Is it worth appealing council land valuation to reduce rates?

Hi all,

We recently bought a property in the Kiama LGA (NSW) for well below the land value listed on our council rates notice. Rates here are very expensive, so we’re considering appealing the land valuation to see if we can reduce them.

Property values in our area have dropped since 2022 when the property was last valued, partly due to increased land tax hitting holiday homes, but the council valuation hasn’t reflected this.

Questions:

• Has anyone successfully appealed a council land valuation in NSW to reduce rates?
• Did it actually lower your rates meaningfully, or is it not worth the hassle?
• What evidence (recent purchase price, sales data, valuations) is most useful?

Any advice or experiences would be appreciated before we decide to lodge a formal objection.

Thanks!