Vol. 3. No. 1
Official Journal of the CouncN of the City of St Kilda
January 1977
VALUATIONYOU CAN OBJECT
All properties in St Kilda have been revalued to comply with the requirements of State legislation under which all properties must be revalued every four years.
Under the law, by which the council is bound, the new valuations, which came into force on October 1 1976, are based on the value of properties at June 301974. Providing that no physical changes are made to a property the new valuations remain in force until' September 30 1980.
Meet your mayor The current Mayor of St Kilda is Cr Richard Thomas (pictured) who has r e p r e s e n t e d the Central Ward on the council since March 1971. His wife G a i l is Mayoress. At 33, Cr Thomas is among the youngest to serve in the Mayoral office. Cr and Mrs Thomas live in Bowen St, Balaclava and both are closely involved in a wide range of community affairs. As a c o u n c i l l o r , Cr Thomas has been chairman of the c o u n c i l ' s health and welfare committee for a number of years. He was chairman of the building and town planning committee for several years but stood down from the post following his election as Mayor. He remains a member of the committee. His other council activities include his role as council representative on the Western Garbage Disposal Region of which he is chairman. The M a y o r e s s , Gail Thomas, is a member of several community organisations including the St Kilda Welfare O r g a nisation and the St Kilda Auxiliary of the Multiple Sclerosis Society. She holds executive office in both organisations. Latest project undertaken by the Mayor and M a y o r e s s is the R e d Cross March Appeal which includes the 'Red Cross Calling' door knock in March. Cr Thomas is patron of the 1977 Appeal. Chairman is South Ward Councillor, Cr Ken Barker.
Rates, struck recently by the St Kilda City Council for the current financial year are based on the new valuations. Property owners have the right to object to the valuation of their property but objections must be lodged within two months of the notice of valuation being issued. Those considering objection should bear in mind that the extent of the valuers responsibility e x t e n d s o n l y to t h e assessment of the respective values and therefore only genuine grievances against the actual valuation itself can be considered.
Grounds for objection The extent of rates or taxes levied upon any valuation is completely beyond the province of the valuer concerned. The grounds for objection to a valuation are: • that the value assigned is too low; • that the value assigned is too high ; • that the interest held by various persons in the land have not been correctly apportioned; • that the apportionment of the valuation is not correct; • that the lands which should be included in one valuation have been valued separately; • that the lands which s h o u l d be v a l u e d separately have been included in one valuation; • that the person named in the assessment notice or other document is not liable to be so named; • that the area, dimensions, or description of the land are not correctly stated in the assessment notice or other document.
Basis of valuations The basis of valuations taken into account by the valuer in fixing the valuations are: Site value ( S V ) : this value is the estimated selling price that the bare land would have been likely to have attracted
on the open market if sold on reasonable terms and conditions at a genuine sale. The value of buildings, fencing, paving and other improvements is not included in the site value.
Estimated sale price Thus the SV is simply the value of the land only. Capital Improved value (CIV): This is the estimated selling price that the property would have been likely to have attracted on the open market if sold on reasonable terms and conditions at a genuine sale. The value of chattels including carpets, blinds, drapes, light fittings, furniture, and other movable items are not included in the capital improved value. Thus the CIV is simply the value of land plus buildings. Net annual value (NAV): In the case of a normal single dwelling on a separate title (including strata title flats) the NAV is fixed at five per cent of the CIV. In the case of properties such as shops, factories and rental flats, the NAV a p p r o x i m a t e s the net annual rental of the property. The NAV cannot be less than five per cent of the CIV.
Valuers are qualified Council valuers are required by law to be qualified. They must hold a certificate of qualification which can only be obtained after the successful completion of a four year course of study. A valuer must also complete four years continuous practical experience and undertake an oral examination before a panel of senior valuers. A valuer is compelled by law to act impartially. Their work is supervised by the State Government appointed ValuerGeneral. The valuer to the City of St Kilda is Mr Les Cooper AAIV, who is available at the town hall or on 94 0251 to discuss any matters concerned with municipal valuations.
DAY CENTRE FORYOUNG OPEN SOON The new North St Kilda Day Nursery, located at the corner of Argyle St and Bath St is expected to be fully operational from the second week of February next year. It will be officially opened by the Mayor of St Kilda, Cr Richard Thomas, on Wednesday February 9 starting at 2.30 p.m. The building, designed by Young, Lehmann and Co Pty. Ltd, architects, cost $245,000 and was subsidized by the Federal Government. The new centre, the second built by the St Kilda City Council, will cater for 50 children on an all-day basis from 7.30 a.m. to 5 p.m. The children will be provided with a mid-day meal. Sister Barbara Weis, who is currently in charge of the existing council day nursery, will be transferring to the new centre when it opens.
Pictures show various a s p e c t s of the new centre, a modern, well designed, community facility. Above is the view of the rear of the building from the area of public open space which abuts it. Note the high skylight windows which allow extra light to enter the building. At left, upper, is a section of an indoor play area including a climbup play platform for the young adventurers. At left, l o w e r , an inside view of the high windows in the dining room of the centre. The servery links to the well appointed kitchen. Below is a section of the front of the building from Argyle St showing a part of the extensive outside play areas.