I was hired 18 months ago by the Valuer-General Victoria (VGV) the Australian local government agency which values land in Victoria, writes Connie Spinoso.
My job as Spatial Information Analyst is to train valuers in the use of land value maps, which I am developing for the whole of Victoria.
These computerised maps will revolutionise the way land is valued. Valuers, politicians and tax administrators will all be able to see graphically how much the land across the area is worth, and be able to plan for the future with a much clearer idea of the economic consequences of development.
The value maps will not only show how land was developed in the past and how values changed as a result, but should also give a model for how certain kinds of development will affect land values in the future.
As a result of a VGV strategy formed two years ago, all valuers working for the state are doing computerised assisted valuations. These allow us to use Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in value maps, meaning the land itself can be valued independently of the buildings on it.
This is needed for levying the land value tax, which accounts for A$500 million from 300,000 mainly large commercial properties, although only 3 out of the 78 municipalities actually value the land independently of the buildings.
The adoption of GIS is the lynchpin to being able to use land value maps, as it is these systems that allow land to be tied to the theoretical value depicted on a land value map. The VGV itself tackled the adoption of GIS head on by launching a project last May to help fourteen rural councils improve their digital map base.
This requires educating valuers and council staff in the use of GIS, not only in collecting the data so it can be used properly, but also in understanding it and manipulating it.
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