Central Highlands landholders up-in-arms over land valuation hikes

Landholders in the Central Highlands Regional Council area were among those experiencing significant valuation increases, with some properties seeing jumps of 100 per cent to 300pc.

On March 26, the Queensland Valuer-General issued new land valuation notices to land owners in the following central Queensland local government areas, with significant increases in unimproved capital value including; Banana: 154pc; Central Highlands: 121.3pc; Isaac: 70.1pc; and Livingstone: 30.1pc.

There are now growing concerns about the impact these land valuation hikes will have on lease payments and future rates.

Emerald-district cotton grower and AgForce Central Queensland regional council director Ian Burnett was among those in attendance at the standing room only seminar, which attendees were able to hear from AgForce land valuation consultant John Moore.

Mr Burnett described the turnout as excellent from the local community.

"The crowd was reflective of the concern within the community about these new land valuations," he said.

"I spoke to quite a few landholders afterwards and they were all very appreciative of the information that was provided.

"There were some pretty huge increases across those areas that have had new evaluations. As a result of that, the need for helping landholders arose."

While Mr Burnett acknowledged the land valuation hikes may be a result of properties which have sold, he believed landholders had a right to object to their incorrect valuations.

The deadline for lodging objections to the new land valuations is May 27, 2024.

For perpetual leases (GHPLs), Mr Burnett said it's an opportunity for landholders to apply to convert to freehold title before the cost of doing this rises again.

"I suppose if you looked at some of the leasehold properties, this increased valuation will impact them quite heavily with their lease payments," he said.

"There was discussion about those properties that can be to convert them to freehold which gets away from the lease payments but if they don't do that now, the new valuations will be taken for any conversion to freehold.

"Those that can need to look seriously at converting to freehold but the other concern on the freehold land, will be how these new land valuations are going to impact their rates in the future, because the rates have been increasing significantly and they've really become a huge cost for all landholders really.

Mr Burnett said landholders should look at how their property valuations compare with surrounding properties.

"They should look at their classifications of the land if they can obtain the breakdown of plant types in their evaluations and really assess whether they're accurate or not," he said.

"Look at how reflective those valuations that have been imposed on a property are to what they consider to be their actual values.

"There's no guarantee that their objections will be successful, but they're in the best position to launch a successful appeal with the support they've got from industry."

Mr Burnett said his family's own holdings have seen their land valuations skyrocket by at least 100pc.

"We're certainly looking to lodge objections," he said.

"It's a concern and at this stage people have a bit of time to do something about it."

Industry peak body AgForce is urging Queensland landholders not to delay if they want to object to new land valuations.

The valuations reflect land values as at October 1 2023, and are effective from June 30, 2024.

AgForce land valuation consultant John Moore urged landholders to challenge their valuations if they believed they were incorrect.

"I emphasise that the onus is on landholders to investigate and check that their valuations are correct, if they feel their valuation is too high it could impact on how much rates and rent (if leasehold) they pay," Mr Moore said.

"The biggest issue I noticed was the lack of understanding around how these valuations have been arrived at.

"So it is great to help our members better understand the process and help them check their valuations are correct and if necessary help them through the process to object to them.

"Other issues that was discussed that I felt was very relevant was the cost of doing the improvements to the land, factors that can positively and negatively affect the valuation, pasture dieback and its effect on the property market."

Mr Moore said AgForce was helping their members with a number of tools, phone advice, webinars and face to face workshops to assist them through the objection process.

"I will also be at Beef 2024 to sit down and discuss this issue with our members," he said.

New land valuations come into effect on July 1, 2024.