WHAT IS A COUNCIL RATING VALUE (RV)?
Formerly called Government valuations (GVs), council rating values (RVs) are compiled by statute, under the Rating Valuations Act 1998, mainly as a uniform basis for levying local and regional council rates.
Rating values also serve as a useful guide for property owners and other interested parties, as they are impartial and independently assessed as at the same date for every property in a Local Council.
A council rating value (RV) comprises three main components:
Capital Value
The assessment of the probable price that would have been paid for the property if it had sold at the date of the last general revaluation. Capital value does not include chattels, stocks, crops, machinery, goodwill or plantation trees.
Land Value
The probable price that would have been paid for just the land as at the date of valuation. The land value includes any development work which may have been carried out, such as, draining, excavation, filling, retaining walls, reclamation, grading, levelling, clearing of vegetation, fertility build-up, or protection from erosion or flooding.
Value of Improvements
This is the difference between the capital and land values. It reflects the additional value given to the land by any buildings, other structures or cropping trees and vines present on the property, and any landscaping that adds value to the land.
A local council may also use Annual Value as a basis for levying rates. Annual Value is the greater value of either the estimated gross annual rental less 20% (or 10% if there are no buildings on the land) or 5% of the property’s Capital Value. View an example here >
The local council (also referred to as a territorial authority) determines how frequently they will assess the rating value, with most council’s doing this every three years. To find out when properties in your local council are to be revalued next, you can check the revaluation schedule.