The Supreme Court of Tasmania held that a council's making of a general rate under s 90 of the Local Government Act 1993 (Tas), including the selection of a valuation base, is the exercise of a 'power' and not the performance of a 'function', and therefore the consultation obligation in s 20(2) does not apply to that exercise. The Court found that the Act maintains a clear distinction between 'functions' and 'powers', with no definition merging the two concepts, and that the rate-making power — expressly described as a taxation power in s 86A(2) — is not conditioned by the consultation requirements of s 20(2). Accordingly, the absence of community consultation prior to the council's resolution changing the valuation base from AAV to CV did not render the resolution invalid.
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