The change from conducting revaluations of property every two years to every year was announced in the 2017-18 state budget.

Wodonga Council wrote to Northern Victoria MLC Wendy Lovell to express its concerns, which she read out in Parliament this week.

“It is simply not possible that completing annual valuations will be more cost-efficient compared to the current system – instead the potential is there for costs to blowout significantly,” the letter stated.

“It ignores the fact that the move from biennial to annual valuations can only increase the cost to everyone: landowners, local and state government.”

Wodonga’s valuation costs were previously lower than Albury’s, which were centrally managed by the NSW valuer-general, but the council feared they would rise.

The Municipal Association of Victoria estimated councils could be hit with a $20 million additional cost every second year.

The Liberal MLC said councils would no longer be able to conduct a competitive tendering process.

“What Labor is proposing is a system that will see land tax payers pay more land tax each and every year,” Ms Lovell said.

“Councils do not have a conflict of interest when it comes to property valuations, as high valuations do not increase council rate revenue – valuations simply determine how the rate revenue is split across ratepayers.

“In contrast to that, the state government has a direct financial interest in increasing property valuations for land tax purposes.”