VICTORIAN
PROPERTY TAXATION SYSTEM
VALUATION
OF LAND ACT 1960
- DEFINITIONS
(1)
In this Act unless inconsistent with the context or subject-matter—
"area"
means the territory within which a rating authority levies rates or
taxes;
"capital
improved value" means the sum which land, if it were held
for an estate in fee simple unencumbered by any lease, mortgage or
other charge, might be expected to realize at the time of valuation
if offered for sale on any reasonable terms and conditions which a
genuine seller might in ordinary circumstances be expected to
require;
"council"
has the same meaning as in the Local Government Act 1989;
"estimated
annual value" of any land, means the rent at which the
land might reasonably be expected to be let from year to year (free
of all usual tenants' rates and taxes) less--
(a)
the probable annual average cost of insurance and other expenses (if
any) necessary to maintain the land in a state to command that rent
(but not including the cost of rates and charges under the Local
Government Act 1989); and
(b)
the land tax that would be payable if that land was the only land its
owner owned;
"farm
land" means any rateable land--
(a)
that is not less than 2 hectares in area; and
(b)
that is used primarily for grazing (including agistment), dairying,
pig-farming, poultry-farming, fish-farming, tree-farming,
bee-keeping, viticulture, horticulture, fruitgrowing or the growing
of crops of any kind or for any combination of those activities;
and
(c)
that is used by a business--
(i)
that has a significant and substantial commercial purpose or
character; and
(ii)
that seeks to make a profit on a continuous or repetitive basis from
its activities on the land; and
(iii)
that is making a profit from its activities on the land, or that has
a reasonable prospect of making a profit from its activities on the
land if it continues to operate in the way that it is operating;
"general
valuation" means a valuation of all the rateable land in
the area of a rating authority or in any one or more subdivisions of
such an area and includes any valuation made pursuant to sub-section
(2) of section eight of this Act;
"improvements",
for the purpose of ascertaining the site value of land, means all
work actually done or material used on and for the benefit of the
land, but in so far only as the effect of the work done or material
used increases the value of the land and the benefit is unexhausted
at the time of the valuation, but, except as provided in sub-section
(2AA), does
not
include--
(a)
work done or material used for the benefit of the land by the Crown
or by any statutory public body; or
(b)
improvements comprising--
(i)
the removal or destruction of vegetation or the removal of timber,
rocks,
stone or earth; or
(ii)
the draining or filling of the land or any retaining walls or other
works appurtenant to the draining or filling; or (iii) the arresting
or elimination of erosion or the changing or improving of any
waterway on or through the land-
unless
those improvements can be shown by the owner or occupier of the
land
to have been made by that person or at that person's expense within
the fifteen years before the valuation;
"mortgage"
includes every charge upon land which is registered under any
Act relating to the registration of deeds or instruments affecting
title to land, and includes a transfer or conveyance to a registered
building society, subject to a deed of defeasance in favour of a
borrower;
"net
annual value" of any land, means--
(a)
except in the case of the lands described in paragraphs (b) and (c)--
(i)
the estimated annual value of the land; or
(ii)
five per centum of the capital improved value of the land--
(whichever
is the greater); or
(b)
in the case of any rateable land which is--
(i)
farm land; or
(ii)
a house, flat or unit (other than an apartment house, lodging house
or boarding house) in the exclusive occupation of the owner and used
for residential purposes; or
(iii)
a house or unit (other than an apartment house, lodging house or
boarding house) in the exclusive occupation of a tenant and used for
residential purposes; or
(iv)
a residential unit in respect of which a residence right in a
retirement village (as defined in the Retirement Villages Act 1986)
exists--
five
per centum of the capital improved value of the land; or
(c)
in the case of parklands, reserves or other lands owned by the Crown
or any statutory authority, occupied (other than under any lease) for
pastoral purposes only--the estimated annual value of it;
"owner"
in relation to any land, means the person who is entitled to
receive the rack-rent for the land or who, if the land were let at a
rack-rent, would be entitled to receive the rent;
"Part"
means Part of this Act;
"prescribed"
means prescribed by this Act or by regulations under this Act;
"rating
authority" means--
(a)
any council in respect of its powers under any Act;
(b)
any Authority under the Water Act 1989;
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* * * *
(d)
Melbourne Water Corporation;
(e)
the Minister responsible for administering section 139 of the Water
Industry Act 1994, when exercising the power to levy rates under that
section;
(f)
the Commissioner of State Revenue;
(g)
any other authority which levies rates or taxes and is prescribed for
the purpose by proclamation of the Governor in Council published in
the Government Gazette;
"residential
use land" means any rateable land--
(a)
which is a unit or self-contained dwelling-house used solely for
residential purposes; and
(b)
which is situated in the municipal district of a council in which
rates are levied in whole or in part on the site value of rateable
land; and
(c)
the site value of which, or in the case of a unit, the site value of
the larger property of which the unit forms a part, has been declared
by a valuer responsible for making valuations within the municipal
district concerned to have been materially increased by reason that
it is suitable for development or further development which is
allowed by or pursuant to any relevant planning scheme;
"site
value" of land, means the sum which the land, if it were
held for an estate in fee simple unencumbered by any lease, mortgage
or other charge, might in ordinary circumstances be expected to
realise at the time of the valuation if offered for sale on such
reasonable terms and conditions as a genuine seller might be expected
to require, and assuming that the improvements (if any) had not been
made;
"unit"
means--
(a)
a unit on a registered plan within the meaning of the Strata Titles
Act 1967; and
(b)
a stratum estate within the meaning of the Transfer of Land Act 1958;
and
(c)
a building or part of a building in the exclusive occupation of a
person who is entitled to occupation by virtue of being a shareholder
in a company which owns the building or a tenant of such a
shareholder; and
(d)
a residential unit in respect of which a residence right in a
retirement village under the Retirement Villages Act 1986 is in
force;
"urban
farm land" means any farm land the site value or net
annual value of which has been declared by the valuer appointed by
the Council to make the general or supplementary valuation to have
been materially increased--
(a)
by reason of its proximity to land which has been or is being
developed for residential, industrial, commercial or other urban
purposes; or
(b)
by reason of its proximity to land which has been or is being
subdivided into allotments used or intended to be used predominantly
for recreational or residential purposes--
and
on which in the opinion of the valuer any farming operations would be
ancillary to the predominant use of the land.
(2)
In estimating the value of improvements on any land for the purpose
of ascertaining the site value of the land, the value of the
improvements is the sum by which the improvements upon the land are
estimated to increase its value if offered for sale on such
reasonable terms and conditions as a genuine seller might in ordinary
circumstances be expected to require.
(2AA)
Works relating to a port, being buildings, breakwaters, berths,
wharfs, aprons, canals or associated works are improvements within
the meaning of this Act.
(2A)
In determining the estimated annual value of any land, the rent at
which the land might reasonably be expected to be let from year to
year is to be taken to be the annual rent at which the land might
reasonably be let at the usually prevailing terms and conditions.
(3)
If it is necessary to determine the capital improved value or site
value of any rateable land in respect of which any person is liable
to be rated, but which forms part of a larger property, the capital
improved value and site value of each part are as nearly as
practicable the sum which bears the same proportion to the capital
improved value and site value of the whole property as the estimated
annual value of the portion bears to the estimated annual value of
the whole property.
(4)
If it is necessary to determine the site value of a unit described in
paragraph (a) or (b) of the definition of "unit" in
sub-section (1), sub-section (3) applies, and a unit forms part of a
larger property which is the land comprised in the strata
subdivision.
(5)
If it is necessary to determine the capital improved value or site
value of a lot or lots on a subdivision under the Cluster Titles Act
1974, the rateable land includes any interest in common property and
accessory lots, but does not form part of a larger property.
(6)
Despite anything in this Act or the Local Government Act 1989, the
capital improved value and the site value of any rateable land which
is, or part of which is, land which is the subject of a covenant
under sub-section (1) of section 3A of the Victorian Conservation
Trust Act 1972 is calculated on the basis that the owner of the land
isbound by that covenant as to the development or use of the land or
part of the land.
(7)
If any area of land which is not less than 4 hectares in size is
planted after the commencement of the Forests Act 1907 with trees
approved of by the Secretary within the meaning of the Conservation,
Forests and Lands Act 1987 as being suitable for mining or commercial
purposes, and those trees are planted not more than 3 metres apart
from each other, in computing the net annual value or capital
improved value of that area of land, the increase in the value of the
area of land by reason of the trees
planted
on it must not be taken into consideration.
(8)
Despite anything in this Act or the Local Government Act 1989, the
capital improved value, net annual value and site value of any
rateable land which is a registered place within the meaning of the
Heritage Act 1995 or on which there is situated a building which is
included in the Heritage Register established under that Act must be
calculated on the basis—
(a)
as to the part actually occupied by the building included in the
Heritage Register established under the Heritage Act 1995--
(i)
that the land may be used only for the purpose for which it was used
at the date of valuation; and
(ii)
that all improvements on that land as at the date of valuation may be
continued and maintained in order that the use of the land referred
to in sub-paragraph (i) may be continued; and
(iii)
that no improvements, other than those referred to in sub-paragraph
(ii), may be made to or on that land; or
(b)
as to any part (not actually occupied by the building which is
included in the Heritage Register and which is not land that is
included in the Heritage Register) that the building which is
included in the Heritage Register cannot be removed or demolished and
that any land referred to in paragraph (c) must not be subdivided or
developed unless a permit to subdivide or develop the
land
has been granted by the Heritage Council; or
(c)
as to any land that is included in the Heritage Register established
under the Heritage Act 1995 that the land cannot be subdivided or
developed or if a permit to subdivide or develop the land has been
granted by the Heritage Council, that it can be subdivided or
developed only in accordance with that permit.
(9)
If--
(a)
a planning scheme under the Planning and Environment Act 1987
prohibits the pulling down or removal of a building; or
(b)
a planning scheme under the Planning and Environment Act 1987
provides that a permit is required before a building may be pulled
down or removed and--
(i)
the responsible authority has refused to grant a permit; or
(ii)
the Administrative Appeals Tribunal has directed that no permit
issue--
then
despite anything in the Local Government Act 1989 or this Act the
capital improved value, net annual value and site value of any
rateable land that includes the building must be calculated on the
basis that the building cannot be pulled down or removed.
(10)
Despite anything in this Act or the Local Government Act 1989--
(a)
the capital improved value and site value of any parklands, reserves
or other lands owned by the Crown or any statutory authority which
are occupied (otherwise than under any lease) for pastoral purposes
only are twenty times the net annual value; and
(b)
the capital improved value and site value of unused roads and water
frontages licensed under the Land Act 1958 or any corresponding
previous enactment are twenty times the annual licence fee payable
for them under that Act.
2A.
DETERMINATION OF ESTIMATED ANNUAL VALUE
(1)
Despite any law to the contrary, in determining the estimated annual
value of any land for any valuation used by a rating authority for a
rating period which commenced before, on or after 1 October 1995 no
deduction is to be made for—
(a)
any provision, allowance or notional contribution to a sinking fund
for the renewal or replacement of any building, fitting, fixture or
other improvement on that land; or
(b)
any provision or allowance or setting aside of an amount for
depreciation of any building, fitting, fixture or other improvement
on that land.
(2)
Nothing in sub-section (1) affects--
(a)
the rights or obligations of the parties in the proceeding known as
The Shell Co. of Australia Limited and Number 1 Spring Street Pty.
Ltd. v City of Melbourne (Number 5994 of 1994) in the Supreme Court
of Victoria;
(b)
the determination of the estimated annual value of any land in any
proceeding relating to an objection, or an objection requested to be
treated as an appeal, to the valuation of that land for a rating
period commencing before 1 October 1995 if--
(i)
the objection or appeal has been lodged before 18 October 1995; and
(ii)
the proceeding has not been finally determined before that time--
to
the extent that the proceeding relates to the same rating period as
the objection or appeal.
(3)
Nothing in this section applies to the determination of the estimated
annual value of any land in relation to any rating period which
commenced--
(a)
after the rating period which was the subject of the proceeding
referred to in sub-section (2)(a); or
(b)
after the rating period referred to in sub-section (2)(b) which was
the subject of the proceeding--
but
before 1 October 1995 with respect to the parties in those
proceedings.
5A.
DETERMINING VALUE OF LAND
(1)
Unless otherwise expressly provided where pursuant to the provisions
of any Act a court board tribunal valuer or other person is required
to determine the value of any land, every matter or thing which such
court board tribunal valuer or person considers relevant to such
determination shall be taken into account.
(2)
In considering the weight to be given to the evidence of sales of
other lands when determining such value, regard shall be given to the
time at which such sales took place, the terms of such sales, the
degree of comparability of the lands in question and any other
relevant circumstances.
(3)
Without limiting the generality of the foregoing provisions of this
section when determining such value there shall, where it is
relevant, be taken into account--
(a)
the use to which such land is being put at the relevant time, the
highest and best use to which the land might reasonably be expected
to be put at the relevant time and to any potential use;
(b)
the effect of any Act, regulation, local law, planning scheme or
other such instrument which affects or may affect the use or
development of such land;
(c)
the shape size topography soil quality situation and aspect of the
land;
(d)
the situation of the land in respect to natural resources and to
transport and other facilities and amenities;
(e)
the extent condition and suitability of any improvements on the land;
and
(f)
the actual and potential capacity of the land to yield a monetary
return.
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