[Elizabeth Fenning]

At Lake Macquarie City Council, we apply the following process when a Section 603 Certificate is issued with a credit balance (generally over $200):

Process:

An internal note is placed on the rate assessment advising that a 603 Certificate has been issued with a credit balance.
The note includes the credit amount and the date the certificate was issued.

Internal Control:
We include a standard instruction that if the vendor requests a refund, written authorisation must first be obtained from the purchaser’s solicitor. This ensures the credit has not already been adjusted in the settlement figures.

603 Certificate Notation:
We also include the following note on the certificate:

The ratepayer has been advised of the credit balance. The credit will remain on the account until a formal refund application has been received and processed.

Reasoning:
This approach helps prevent duplicate payments or incorrect refunds where settlement adjustments may already account for the credit.

Happy to hear how other councils manage credits on 603s — particularly around thresholds of vendor making periodic BPAY payments which we also note on the 603 and send a letter to the vendor to help our refund controls.

[Elizabeth Fenning]

Hi Steve

That would be amazing will you be going to the Conference in Tamworth as I could catch up with you then?

[Elizabeth Fenning]

Thanks, Srisa and Trevor for your feedback this information has been truly helpful.

[Elizabeth Fenning]

Good morning,

Back in December, I requested Lake Macquarie City’s data and have since followed up several times with Land Data Value NSW. Yesterday, I received confirmation that our Section 585 attributable review has now commenced.

At the same time, we are undertaking a revaluation (base date 1 July 2025), and I have identified that our supplementary list total land values are not reconciling to the Valuer General (VG) totals. This discrepancy is also present under the base date 1 July 2022, prior to uploading the revaluation.

The only time I have previously encountered this issue was when the VG experienced data processing problems and certain workflows were not included in the supplementary listing for the relevant month. I have contacted the VG again seeking clarification; however, I am not yet receiving a response or clear explanation on this propblem.

I would appreciate hearing from any Councils who:

Are currently undertaking a revaluation (base date 1 July 2025); and

Have identified discrepancies between supplementary list totals and VG land value totals.

If you have experienced similar issues, I would be interested to understand:

The nature of the discrepancy

Whether it related to workflows not being captured

How the issue was ultimately resolved

I would also welcome any assistance from the NSW Executives Group if you are able to help facilitate clarification or resolution with the NSW Valuer General.

I look forward to hearing from other Councils on this matter.

[Elizabeth Fenning]

Oak Tree Retirement is certainly doing the rounds. At Lake Mac, they contacted me about this topic.

I’ve also denied their application for a Pensioner rebate as Council relies on statutory liability rather than private contractual liability under section 560 and 575 of the Local Government Act, as such, individual concessions cannot be applied to residents within the village under the current tenure and ownership structure.

[Elizabeth Fenning]

Thanks for your feedback the information has been very beneficial and helpful.

[Elizabeth Fenning]

Thank you, Ian, for providing this valuable information regarding Conservation Agreements.
As you mentioned in your previous response, the older agreements under the NP&W Act were in perpetuity, whereas the newer agreements may not necessarily follow this pattern. Given this difference, I agree that it is prudent to verify the terms of each agreement to determine its duration and ensure that the exemption is applied appropriately. But how do we know or measure this under the new agreements. Therefore, I was thinking that perhaps the NSW Rating Professionals executives could provide further guidance to ensure we are correctly following the legislative requirements and steps surrounding these new conservation agreements.
I would greatly appreciate any insights or additional resources to confirm that we are adhering to best practices with these newer agreements or perhaps have this topic raised at the next conference.

[Author]

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