Brisbane City Council rates rip off

Hi guys,

Whilst I’m sure many of you are already aware of this, I recently found out that Brisbane City Council are charging investors more for their rates than they are charging owner occupiers. I wrote a message on their Facebook page, with theirs and my subsequent replies which I’ve posted below:

Me – Can anyone there please give a plausible reason why rates are charged differently to a property for a non-owner occupier as opposed to an owner occupier? I fail to see how there is a difference in providing the exact same service to the exact same property, other than a way to profiteer off owners who aren’t owner-occupiers at this time

Brisbane City Council – Hi Andrew, thanks for getting in touch. Council uses a differential rating system based on property land use to levy general rates. This is done to ensure that properties that are the principle place of residence of their owners do not pay as much as those which are income producing. Income producing properties also have the advantage of being able to offset such expenses against taxation. Council’s principal motivation is to ensure, through its differential rating system, that the owner-occupied, single unit dwelling sector of the community contribute to a level that is affordable and value for money. If you require any further information, please Private Message me your contact details and I will organise to have a Rates Officer contact you. Thanks, Tom.
Like · Reply · May 20 at 3:55pm

Me – I’m sorry, but that answer is ridiculous and unacceptable. My personal tax situation is nothing to do with council and should not be a factor when applying a rate, particularly when every owner would be in a completely different tax situation. The logic in this is absurd. If you were to apply it to every purchase made in society, everyone would be paying different prices for the same goods and services on everything, as most things are deductible in some way to someone depending on their profession. Should I pay more for sunglasses than the consumer next to me because they’re deductible in my profession? Should my brother pay more for hair cuts because they’re deductible in his?

All your answer has done is publicly highlight that yes, council has attempted to disguise blatant profiteering from owners using taxation reasoning that is ignorant and illogical. People aren’t that stupid and if council think owners, investors and, more importantly, voters don’t notice, it’s mistaken.

I have written to Property Observer, Margaret Lomas and other industry professionals who it seems have also taken exception to this and Margaret has started a Facebook aware campaign here Please visit, like and share to raise awareness.

More importantly, there was a recent ruling on a class action by investors against Mackay council for the exact same thing, which found in favour of the investors. It is my hope that with an awareness campaign and the precedent now set in the Mackay council ruling, that we can get this absurdity overturned in all the other Qld councils who are currently engaging in the same practice. To my knowledge, the other councils currently doing this in addition to Brisbane City, is The Gold Coast Council, Logan Shire Council, Moreton Bay Shire Council and Rockhampton Shire Council. More on that can be found here

There are probably others but it’s important that investors with properties in any of these areas, and indeed any area, have their say to ensure this kind of thing does not spread. You can also have your say directly on the Brisbane City Council’s Facebook page here

Thanks for your time.