Angry farmers urged to lodge rate rise objections
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Farmers in the Loddon Shire who are angry about rises in their municipal rates, are being urged to lodge objections.
More than 70 drought affected farmers are unhappy, after changes in property valuations pushed up their bills this year.
The council says there has been a shift in rating proportions from irrigation to dryland and urban properties, and it has done all can to ease any major rise in bills.
Chief executive officer John McLinden says an objection can be lodged with the valuer.
"The valuer then has a compulsory conference with the landowner and if there have been any errors made, then there is an opportunity for them to then be discovered and fixed," he said.
"If at the end of that process the landowner still feels they have been treated unfairly or that there has been an error made, then they have a right to appeal the decision of the valuer and that then goes to VCAT [the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal]."
