Bob Loone
That means that farmers on average pay over 300% higher rates per ha than absentee plantation corporations. Or to put it the other way MIS corporations pay on average about 75% less in rates per ha than genuine farmers on the same class of land.
EVERYONE else pays higher Council Rates to offset the lower rates collected from land owned by MIS corporations.
Research by Alderman M. Ryan of Burnie Council shows that In the Burnie Municipality, council rates on farmland owned by plantation corporations ranges from $7 to $14 per hectare, depending on land class while farmers on the same land classes are charged rates of $34 to $43 per ha.
That means that farmers on average pay over 300% higher rates per ha than absentee plantation corporations.
Or to put it the other way MIS corporations pay on average about 75% less in rates per ha than genuine farmers on the same class of land.
It is not only farmers but the rest of the community (residential and business etc.) have to pay much higher council rates to cover the much low amount of rates collected from forestry plantation corporations. This is mainly due to the removal or destruction of the ratable improvements and capital assets from what were farm properties and the ceasing of agricultural production which significantly reduces the Government valuation of MIS Corporation owned plantation land when compared to farming properties.
