NOOSA COUNCIL DRAFT 2023/2024 BUDGET FOR CONSULTATION · Special Meeting - Draft 23/24 Budget for Consultat

SPECIAL MEETING                                                                         22 MAY 2023


In setting rates and charges, the Valuer General’s office has again undertaken a further land
valuation (UCV) for the second consecutive year to capture property price increases resulting from
the unprecedented growth in demand for land in the shire.

Whilst the average land valuation increase was just over 62.0%, the distribution between localities
and property types in the shire has again been very diverse. Not only has the increase been very
different between suburbs (and streets within those suburbs) as some properties experience much
higher valuation increases than others, but there has also significant differences between land uses.
Broadly valuation increases are ranging from no increase in land value all the way up to over 300%
increases for some properties.

The challenge for Council is then setting the general rate, which is calculated by multiplying the
unimproved land valuation by a rate in the dollar for each different category of land. Every effort has
been made to moderate the impact of the valuation increases, and has managed to keep most
properties within or below CPI. However, it is not possible for Council to mitigate the full impact of
the State Government imposed valuation increases for those minimal number of outlier properties
with very significant valuation increases without creating significant adverse impacts to the majority
of ratepayers in the shire who are on the minimum rate.

A full suite of budget documents will be made available on Council’s Have Your Say Noosa website.

Consultation Approach

The 2023/24 budget is the third year that Council has engaged in public consultation for its budget
and is currently only one of a small number of local government authorities in Queensland taking
proactive steps to improve the level of community engagement through its budget process.

The decision to commence public budget consultation process also followed a Queensland Audit
Office (QAO) report to Parliament in 2018 on Managing Local Government Rates and Charges,
which found that none of the local governments it had audited consulted with the public on their
budgets, the level and quality of services provided to the public, or the rates and charges levied.
Council’s decision to undertake public consultation also pre-empted anticipated future legislative
changes to mandate public consultation on budgets.

A staged approach to the development and consultation of the 2023/24 budget has been adopted to
ensure community feedback was appropriately incorporated into both the start of the budget (to set
priorities) and at the completion of the draft budget (to enable feedback on the proposed decisions):