A SHAKE-UP of the Redlands’ property rating system has taken effect, with two new categories introduced for shopping centres and retirement and lifestyle village.
Redland City Council says the changes are designed to ensure all ratepayers are treated equitably and consistently.
Council said the new category did not apply to individual businesses operating within shopping centres.
Instead, it applies to the shopping centre with rates based on the size of the development using its Gross Lettable Area (GLA), the total floor space for tenants.
The new category allows Council to distinguish between neighbourhood shopping strips and major retail centres, with larger developments expected to pay proportionally higher rates reflecting their greater demand on Council services.
Council said the approach would help ensure smaller businesses were not carrying a disproportionate share of the rates burden while large shopping centres contributed more closely aligned to their scale and impact.
The changes will be phased in over time to avoid sudden increases for centre owners.
Council has also introduced a dedicated category for retirement and lifestyle villages.
Under the former rating structure, retirement villages were generally rated as a single non-principal place of residence property owned by a corporate entity, despite often containing dozens or even hundreds of independent living units.
Council said residents in those villages used Council services in much the same way as people living in stand-alone homes but collectively contributed significantly lower general rates.
Under the new approach, retirement and lifestyle villages will gradually transition towards a rating structure based on the number of independent living units, with villages grouped into bands according to their size.
Council said the long-term goal was for each unit to contribute at a level broadly comparable to a pensioner living in a stand-alone home after applicable pension concessions.
Council said the intent was not to unfairly increase revenue but to distribute the overall rates burden more equitably across the community.
The changes will be phased in over time.
