IN SHORT

• Carrathool Shire Council has resolved to proceed with the sale of nineteen properties across the shire where rates and charges have remained unpaid for more than five years, with total outstanding amounts of $271,885.71.
• Properties are located at Gunbar, Merriwagga, Hillston, Rankins Springs, Carrathool, Wallanthery and Roto. 
• The General Manager has been granted delegated authority to set reserve prices and to represent the council in all related dealings, with any property not sold at auction to remain with the appointed auctioneers for sale by private treaty.

After exhausting all other available avenues of debt recovery under its own policy framework, Carrathool Shire Council has resolved to take the most significant step available to a local government for recovering unpaid rates — the sale of the land on which those rates are owed.

The decision, made at the February ordinary meeting, applies to nineteen properties spread across several communities in the shire including Gunbar, Merriwagga, Hillston, Rankins Springs, Carrathool, Wallanthery and Roto. Combined, the outstanding rates and charges across the listed properties total $271,885.71, a figure that the council's accounting officer has recommended be reflected in an increased impairment provision, lifted from $98,246 to $168,246 to account for the realistic likelihood of full recovery.

The legal basis for the action is Section 713 of the Local Government Act 1993, which permits a council to sell land on which a rate or charge has remained unpaid for more than five years from the date on which it became payable. For vacant land the threshold is lower at one year. The legislation requires the council to give public notice of any proposed sale and to take reasonable steps to identify and notify any person with an interest in the land before proceeding.

The properties listed range from small vacant lots with outstanding debts of around $6,000 to occupied houses and buildings with debts exceeding $24,000. The Valuer-General valuations of the properties vary considerably, with some vacant lots assessed at as little as $620 while residential properties carry valuations up to $45,600. In a number of cases the outstanding rates debt exceeds the Valuer-General valuation, a circumstance that underlines both the length of time these debts have been accumulating and the modest market values attached to some properties in smaller communities.

Under the resolution, no property can be withdrawn from the sale process unless all amounts due including any accrued interest and legal fees are paid in full from the date of the meeting. The General Manager has been granted delegated authority to set reserve prices for each property, to engage with auctioneers and to handle all related legal and administrative dealings on the council's behalf. Properties that do not sell at auction will remain with the appointed auctioneers for sale by private treaty.

The process is a reminder that local government rates are not optional. They fund the roads, water systems, public facilities and services that every community depends on, and when a minority of landowners allow debts to accumulate over years without engagement, the cost is ultimately borne by the ratepayers who do meet their obligations.