Council sells off homes for rates September 1, 2013
The financial chicken will come home to roost for struggling ratepayers next week when the Gold Coast Council auctions off 11 properties to reclaim unpaid rates.
Among the properties, which are dotted across the city, is a three-storey Currumbin mansion bought for more than $1.5 million just six years ago. Property records obtained by the Sun show it has repeatedly failed to sell despite a markdown of more than $300,000.
And it's a situation set to get worse.
Council figures supplied to the Sun show the council has resolved to sell a further 163 in-arrears properties on top of a further 257 properties voted on earlier this year. Salvation Army spokesman Patrick Walsh said the auction was a "sign of the times". "This is the new poor mums and dads who do not have the means to meet their expenses," he said.
"These sales are indicative of a community that is struggling. In the long term the council will face problems with more people struggling to pay rates, meaning they will find it harder to get their revenue, creative a vicious circle." Other properties set to go under the hammer include two-level houses in Molendinar, Hope Island and Worongary as well as units in Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach.
The council is empowered to auction properties to recoup lost rates and charges under section 140 of the Local Government Act. Mayor Tom Tate said the high number of sales was a "hangover" from the previous council. "Getting to this point takes years, so in many ways we're dealing with a 'rates hangover' from the previous council," he said.
"Every effort is made to assist ratepayers to find a solution to clear rate arrears regardless of the age of the debt; however, once all avenues have been exhausted without a significant reduction in the debt, the City of Gold Coast proceeds to sale of land as a last resort." Cr Tate said about 6 per cent of properties resolved actually went to auction in the past 15 years, with the balance paying overdue rates before the actual auction.
Nearly five years after the beginning of the financial crisis, council figures show more than 32,000 of the city's 240,000 ratepayers were unable to pay their rates by the due date. Before June's council budget the city was owed nearly $93 million in unpaid charges. Property expert David Stringer said bargain hunters were likely to score a good deal.
"These sales always conjure up the image of a firesale and I imagine interest will be great," Mr Stringer said. "These properties will be cheaper than normal for sure," he said. Cash-strapped Gold Coast ratepayers make up more than one-third of the state's total of unpaid local government charges. The council announced the introduction of an overhead rates payment system after details of struggling ratepayers were raised by the Sun.
hang on. if it takes years to get to the point they can sell the property to recoup rates, this cannot be "a sign of the times" because the rates owed are from years ago. it's a sign of what happened in the GFC, not right now.
I am the love child of Tony Abbott and Pauline Hanson
hang on. if it takes years to get to the point they can sell the property to recoup rates, this cannot be "a sign of the times" because the rates owed are from years ago. it's a sign of what happened in the GFC, not right now.
You've never been outside WA wtf would you know !!
i know of someone who hasn't paid rates on 2 commercial properties for 21 years.
After fuck knows how much in legal fees the council has spent (while this bloke represented himself) the final verdict after 4 years in court is that they will take the nominal rates owed from his estate after he dies.
there you go
APF - a place where serious people don't take themselves too seriously. There's nothing else like it.
You've never been outside WA wtf would you know !!
It takes a number of years of being in arrears before legal action is able to forcibly sell property. It's always been this way, this is nothing new.
Does it matter what has happened in the past? This is today, September 2013, and the GC city council is getting desperate after years of crashing property prices, f-all sales activity, businesses going bankrupt all around. Anyone who thinks it's going to be business as usual around australia obviously hasn't been reading the papers for the last 6 months but the gold coast is a special case, it is ROOTED economically.
I think this is a terrible precident but I expect to see it happening more and more as government seeks to increase revenue and find owners for property that can pay their way.
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