The ACT government took in $214 million more in taxes in the past 12 months than in the year before, continuing an upward trajectory of local government charges on Canberra residents.
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The tax take in 2018-19 - from rates, land tax, betting taxes, payroll tax and duties on house and car sales - was $1.82 billion, up from $1.6 billion the year before. That amounts to a 13 per cent increase.
While the amount collected from taxes, fees and fines has billowed healthily for government coffers, if not residents' hip pockets, the government lost out in one area.
The amount collected in traffic fines fell $3.6 million, or 13 per cent, to $23.9 million, according to the Chief Minister, Treasury and Economic Development directorate's annual report, tabled on Friday.
The directorate attributes the fall in traffic fines to light rail construction and other construction, which meant less use of red-light and fixed cameras. The red light camera at the corner of Antill Street and Northbourne Avenue was reportedly out of action while the tram line was built.
Happily for the tax collectors, though, the new number plate-recognition system for parking fines saw revenue from parking fines jump from $12.9 million to $15.1 million in the past 12 months.
The vehicle-mounted cameras, which take infra-red photos to electronically chalk cars and their number plates, can inspect more than 500 cars an hour, according to the government.
The increase in the amount the government took in rates charged to home owners was $70 million, or 11 per cent. The annual report said the hike was mainly due to increases in land values and changes made to land taxes.
Land tax is charged for rented properties, but last year, the government started charging land tax when home owners leave their houses vacant. It also introduced a foreign ownership surcharge.
For a free-standing house with an unimproved value of $500,000, rates are $3415, land tax $5193, and the surcharge if it is owned by a foreigner is $3750.
A big boost to government coffees came from payroll tax, which is charged on businesses. Just under $660 million was reaped in payroll tax in 2018-19, up $77 million on the year before.
Stamp duty on home sales, duty on car sales and other levies amounted to $391 million, up $32 million on the year before.
The government made $483 million from land sales in the 2018-19 year, up $94 million, or 24 per cent, on the year before.
Most of that was from residential land sales, which brought in $293 million, according to the Suburban Land Agency's annual report. The government made $175 million from selling government buildings, including $101 million from selling public housing in Griffith, Narrabundah and Lyons.
Despite the big increase on the year before, the amount made from land sales was still well down on budget - $218 million less than budgeted.
The agency said the result was below budget because settlement was pushed back a year on three of the government buildings sold, and the softer housing market had hit sales of single-residential blocks.
The Sydney and Melbourne housing markets and the uncertainly during the election had rubbed off on sentiment in Canberra, the agency said. The government had also faced competition from other housing estates in Canberra (the Capital Airport Group is developing Molonglo), and buyers were showing an increasing preference for apartments and townhouses rather than freestanding houses.
"Although economic fundamentals remained strong, the rate of sale for new land within the region was well below long-term averages, and below our budgeted forecasts," the agency said.
The agency had planned to sell land for 4060 homes (houses and units) in 2018-19 but ended up selling land for just 3204. It said the shortfall was due to the delay on the sale of Macarthur House in Northbourne Avenue, a hold-up in Ginninderry sales because of a tribunal appeal, and planning limits allowing fewer units than planned at the former Strathgordon Court public housing site in Woden. The government had also withdrawn Block 40 Section 54 in Belconnen.
And despite the gloom, the Suburban Land Agency still made $94 million more than the year before in land sales.
The Suburban Land Agency also failed to reach its target on affordable housing, releasing land for 366 affordable homes, against a target of 512. It released sites for 59 community housing units against a target of 20.