Flood-affected home owners in Queensland could face increases in their land taxes and rates from June 30.
Updated land valuations were released for 30 Queensland councils yesterday after property assessments in October, well before the February floods.
The valuations have increased Brisbane's residential land values by thousands, or hundreds of thousands of dollars across the city's 190 suburbs.
Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner has called for the state government to delay the valuations and reissue them after taking into account the damage done in February.
Mr Schrinner said the state government's decision to postpone land valuations after the floods in 2011 meant values in flood-affected suburbs went down, along with the rates.
"For example, [in] Fairfield … property values went down by 16 per cent after the flood, Rocklea almost 10 per cent down," he said.
It is a legislative requirement for the state government to release updated land valuations on March 31, but Mr Schrinner told ABC Radio Brisbane "if there's a will, there's a way" to prevent flood-affected home owners from being hit by potential bill hikes.
Under the latest valuations, the median value for residential land in Rocklea increased from 2019 levels by 20.4 per cent, from $270,000 to $325,000, while other flood-affected suburbs such as Fairfield, Paddington, and Graceville also increased by more than 20 per cent.
Land valuations for 347,154 properties were updated across Brisbane, with the total value of more than $260 billion showing median land values have increased by 17.5 per cent since 2020.
No Brisbane suburbs saw their land values decline in the latest update, with outer-ring suburbs such as Chuwar, Mount Crosby, Ellen Grove and Belmont recording some of the largest increases.
The council has issued a $250 rebate for the upcoming rates bill in flood-affected areas, but the Lord Mayor said the updated values would impact rates in the next financial year, potentially leaving property owners paying higher bills for land they could not easily sell.
Land not property, Minister says
Resources Minister Scott Stewart said independent Valuer-General Wally Kearnan took into account historical flood data when assessing the properties in October last year and that people could object if they disagreed with their updated valuations.
"We have seen huge increases and spikes in the market across Queensland, but remember this is about valuing the land and not the property that sits on it," Mr Stewart said.
"My heart goes out to all those Queenslanders who have been impacted by floods … there's nothing more heartbreaking than seeing people's lives out on the footpath, but this is about the value of the land."
Mr Stewart said people could make formal objections if there was an issue not considered in their valuation, such as the floods washing away part of their property.
He said councils had been given the data weeks ago and could make their own decisions on how they applied the information to rates bills.
"They can actually make those determinations about how they use the rates," he said.
"They've got the ability to freeze the rates, give discounts on those rates.
Opposition LNP resources spokesman Pat Weir also expressed concern the updated land values would "undoubtedly mean higher land tax" and urged Mr Stewart to extend the 60-day limit for people to make formal objections.
The new valuations will be effective from June 30.
