MICHELLE Clarke is shocked her rates bill has more than doubled in a year.
Mrs Clarke, who lives in Kerr Road, Wirlinga, on the edge of Thurgoona, thought it was a mistake that her charges had risen from $2623 in 2011-12 to $5691
“It’s about $110 a week,” she said.
“And it may even go up next year with houses popping up in the area.”
Mrs Clarke has written to the NSW Valuer-General asking why the rates had risen so much for the 13-hectare property she has lived in with her husband and two children for seven years.
She said sales used to value her property were three and four streets away and one was valued at $5.6 million.
“I also told the Valuer-General the property adjoins an Army disposal site, which requires a 500-metre buffer for any development,” she said.
“And we are also directly in the Albury Airport’s flightpath.”
All eight of her arguments were rejected.
A spokeswoman from the Valuer-General said the property’s low-lying land could be used for houses and the Albury Council had said there was no requirement for a 500-metre buffer for subdivision purposes.
The Valuer-General told Mrs Clarke the land value was correct and “therefore your objection has been disallowed”.
Her neighbours have also had big rate rises.
Mrs Clarke said she was even more infuriated that her road was full of potholes and too narrow in places for two cars to pass safely.
“I can’t justify the big increase with these potholes and the fact we are without power one day a month for a good chunk of the day due to the subdivisions being developed,” she said.
“The sections of road where the housing estates are being built have been re-surfaced.”
The valuation on Mrs Clarke’s land rose from $363,000 in July 2007 to $788,000 in July last year.
“I knew there would be a valuation increase, but never did I think the price would be more than double,” she said.
“I don’t have time to fight this in court, but I would like to because I am dead-set against it,” she said.
Albury Council’s director of corporate services Judy Charlton said the Valuer-General supplied land values councils used to calculate rates.
She said the Valuer-General reassessed land values every three years to ensure changes in the property market were reflected in the council’s rate model.