Thousands of heartbroken flood homeowners in Queensland could face rate rises after those in flood ravaged suburbs increase by 30 per cent from June.
In an updated land valuation released on Thursday, 30 Queensland councils revealed rates across more than 190 suburbs would jump by the thousands following the natural disaster which swept through the state in February.
The property assessment that took place back in October 2021 has sparked outrage from Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner, who has called for the Palaszczuk government to reissue valuations and take flood damage into account.
“The valuations should have been delayed and they certainly need to be reviewed, because they’re out of date,” he said.
Rates in flooded suburbs in Logan, Ipswich, Jimboomba and Oxley have skyrocketed by 30 per cent, while Fairfield, Paddington and Rocklea, located in the Brisbane area, have increased by more than 20 per cent.
“For example, [in] Fairfield property values went down by 16 per cent after the flood, Rocklea almost 10 per cent,” he said.
Mr Schrinner told reporters the state should copy the Bligh government’s decision to postpone land valuations after the 2011 floods.
“It’s a huge slap in the face to victims of the flood and it comes just weeks after floodwaters impacted more than 23,000 Brisbane properties,” he said.
“Clearly the fair thing to do now for flood-affected areas would be to withdraw the valuations that have just been released and undertake new assessments based on the latest information.”
Land valuation for Brisbane properties is now worth over $260 billion dollars, with median land values increasing by 17.5 per cent since 2020.
Resources Minister Scott Stewart told reporters historical flood data was taken into account when assessing the properties in October last year.
“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,” he said.
Mr Stewart said the council has the power to apply information to rates bills.
“They‘ve got the ability to freeze the rates, give discounts on those rates,” he said.
“It’s entirely up to them what they do with this data, but they’ve had this before the floods.”
Residents are urged to make an appeal to the Valuer General if their properties were impacted by the floods.
The new valuations are will come into effect from June 30.
