The outstanding rates totalled $436,000. Photo: Kazuri Photography.
Two dozen properties were recently sold off by Queanbeyan Council, which is now preparing for a review into whether it was a fair process.
Earlier this year, Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council (QPRC) announced it was seeking to recoup unpaid rates through the sale of dozens of properties.
Twenty-six vacant blocks of land, six houses, three units, two other structures and one business were slated to go under the hammer.
Some owners came forward to settle debts, meaning 24 were up for sale in May.
Following the auction, Councillor Mareeta Grundy wrote to the council, calling for a review before similar auctions in the future.
She was present on the day and told Region there were more people present than she expected.
“There would have been, in my estimation, over one hundred bidders or observers [there],” she said.
“The nature of the bidding, though, that caused some alarm from me was that people were bidding frenetically, and there were bidding wars going on [for] parcels of land where building entitlements and access had not been established [and] were unknown to the bidders.”
Some properties saw “frenzied bidding that ended in … thousands of dollars” above the expected price.
A QPRC spokesperson previously told Region that the auction attracted 87 registered bidders and all 24 properties were sold.
Most properties recovered the rates outstanding, but council will be asked to write off about $28,000 to $30,000 in rates, where some properties were sold for less than the amounts owing.
Cr Grundy also said people had alleged to her that parcel sizes on maps were inaccurate, though any difference was “out of council’s hands”.
“[It] seems that the parcels of land – many of them small – have been the result of anomalies in paperwork over the last years to decades involving solicitor transactions,” she said.
“That, at the time, was unknown to council, and that has come out subsequent to council’s efforts to try and contact owners.”
She also said there were allegations that some were bidding on behalf of other people during the auction.
“I’ve called for an investigation to ensure that what should be a proper process by council is not abused and misused.”
QPRC General Manager Rebecca Ryan said the auction involved 87 registered bidders. Photo: Screenshot/Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council.
The rates had been unpaid for at least five years, and council had attempted to contact the owners before the auction.
QPRC general manager Rebecca Ryan said a review would be carried out to make sure the process of future land sales over rates was “improved”.
She also acknowledged the May auction involved “frenzied bidding” and higher than expected interest.
“It seems clear that many of the bidders had not done the proper research of the properties they were bidding on, as they were blocks that did not have a dwelling entitlement or were not accessible,” she said.
The sale was a “last resort” to recoup the amount owed in rates, but she said that was the goal of it.
“Any excess in the sale price above the amount owing in unpaid rates is kept in trust for the private owner of the block to claim, and after a period of time if there is no claim, these funds are sent to NSW Revenue,” she said.
