WA Property Owners Slugged Again in Barnett Budget

WA Property Owners Slugged Again in Barnett BudgetThe Barnett Government has taken the lazy way to fix its Budget problem by slugging WA property owners for the second year in a row with a big increase in land tax and a massive hike in the CBD parking levy.The 2014/15 WA State Budget includes a 10% increase in land tax rates this year, which represents a 23% increase over the last two years, and a % increase in the Perth Parking Levy.”This is a very disappointing Budget that lacks any vision for reform to make the tax system fairer and more sustainable,” said Mr Joe Lenzo, Executive Director of the Property Council of Australia.”There is also no vision to keep WA growing and lifting productivity.”It is a bookkeeper’s budget for the short term that masks the structural faults in the State tax system and the government’s inability to reign in public expenditure.”Infrastructure spending in the Budget is reduced for the second year in a row, which reflects the Government’s lack of vision to keep WA growing after the mining boom.”The Property Council will launch a public campaign to show government that when you take the shortcut through property tax increases, you hurt the broader WA community. “The Property Council will also lead an industry plan to reform taxes, a job that the WA Government consistently refuses to do,” said Mr Lenzo.Media contact: Joe Lenzo, Executive Director: Property Council, (08) 9426 1200 or 0419 044 768 Lino Iacomella, Dep. Executive Director: Property Council, (08) 9426 1200 or 0417 1 974