Rates and Revaluation
Each year the Council sets its budget, and the rates needed to fund services is part of that budget. Rates increase when the cost of doing work increases due to inflation and projects that are added to the work programme. The work we have planned, and the budget for it, is set out in the Long-Term Plan.
Our rating system uses property valuations as one of several tools to divide up the rates between properties. Revaluations are carried out by Quotable Value which is separate to council. When a revaluation happens, Council recalculates the rates-per-dollar of value needed to collect the total rates income. The valuations are used to find each property’s share of the rates – rates don’t simply increase by the percentage increase of valuations.
If all valuations in the district increased by the same percentage, every property’s rates would only change by the percentage of the Council’s budget increase. If a property’s valuation increases by less than the average increase, they can expect to pay a lower share of the total rates the Council needs.
If a property’s valuation increases by more than the average increase for the district, the owner can expect to pay a higher share of the total rates the Council needs.
