Where a local government levies special charges under wholly invalid resolutions (as opposed to levying valid charges on the wrong land), the regulatory return provisions in the Local Government Regulation 2012 (Qld) s 98 are not engaged. However, ratepayers who paid under a mistaken belief in a legal obligation to pay are entitled to restitution under the general law, and the fact that the local government expended the monies on services benefiting the ratepayers' land does not constitute 'good consideration' defeating the claim, because consideration in this context means the state of affairs contemplated by the payer as the basis for payment, not any subsequent benefit received.
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