The Minister for Local Government Bryan Green today announced the release of a draft report for public comment recommending changes to the State's valuation and rating system.

"The report had been developed by a joint State and Local Government Steering Committee who were tasked with reviewing the current performance of the State's valuation and rating system and making any recommendations for reform," Mr Green said.

"Key recommendations include the State Government discontinuing Assessed Annual Value (AAV) valuations and that councils transition to Capital Value for rating purposes by 1 July 2016.

"The report also recommends that the State Government and Local Government work closely to build councils' capability to manage the process of moving away from AAV during this transitional period.

The Steering Committee found that the existing AAV based rating system is both difficult to understand and characterised by rating volatility and therefore not the most optimum system available.

"Extensive modelling and an analysis of the implications for every council of a transition away from AAV was undertaken

Mr Green urged councils and interested community members to provide feedback on the draft report by Monday 19 November 2012.

"The Steering Committee will consider the feedback before finalising its report and submitting it for my consideration" said Mr Green.

The draft report is available online at www.dpac.tas.gov.au