What do rates pay for?
Rates help pay for services and facilities for the Kāpiti community that are either critical (ie, wastewater management) or beneficial to the community as a whole – often the things that make our district a more desirable place to live.
Not everyone will use every service or facility on offer, and where possible we look at other forms of revenue, such as development contributions and ‘user pays’ – eg, subsidised swimming pool entry fees.
Kāpiti Coast District Council also collects rates on behalf of the Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC). These rates are set by Greater Wellington.
At the beginning of each rating year you'll receive two Rates Assessment Notices: one details your Kāpiti Coast District Council rates and the other your Greater Wellington rates. Your quarterly instalment invoices are combined to reflect both district and regional councils’ rates on the one invoice.
Kāpiti Coast District Council rates
The Kāpiti Coast District Council has two main rating types:
- districtwide
- targeted rates.
Districtwide general rate
The districtwide portion of your rates helps to fund general expenses including democratic services, general insurance, economic development, emergency management, cemeteries, public toilets, social wellbeing, environmental sustainability, coastal protection of Council infrastructure, and districtwide strategic flood protection. Services and facilities funded by district rates include street lighting, waste water, storm water, solid waste, coastal management, roading, libraries, swimming pools, community halls, sports halls, cemeteries, public toilets, social housing, works depots, emergency operations centre, parks and open spaces, cycleways, walkways and bridleways, planning and development, dog registration, noise complaints and Projects.
Targeted rates
Some Council services and facilities are funded by a specific portion of your rates, known as targeted rates. Depending on where your property is, you’ll have different targeted rates applied:
- Districtwide roading rate
Funds all roading expenditure (except historic debt-servicing costs), and is divided between the capital value-based roading rate and the land value-based roading rate. - Community facilities rate
Funds libraries, parks and reserves, swimming pools, halls and community centres in the district. - Wastewater disposal rate
Funds the maintenance, depreciation and debt-servicing costs of wastewater treatment plants and reticulation systems in Paraparaumu/Raumati, Waikanae and Ōtaki. - Hautere/Te Horo water supply rate
Funds the maintenance and depreciation costs of headworks and the reticulation system of the Hautere/Te Horo water supply, and is funded by rating units (properties) connected to the Hautere/Te Horo water supply. - Stormwater rate
Funds the operating and loan servicing costs of stormwater in the district's stormwater drainage areas. - Districtwide water supply fixed rate, and districtwide water supply volumetric rate
These rates fund the water supply system, excluding the Hautere/Te Horo water scheme. - Paraparaumu/Raumati community rate
Funds historic debt-servicing costs or roading and stormwater activities, coastal protection, Matai Road industrial area improvements, and community board expenses for Paraparaumu and Raumati, including local grants. - Waikanae community rate
Funds historic debt-servicing costs of roading and stormwater activities, and Waikanae Community Board expenses, including local grants. - Commercial rate
Funds a portion of the cost of providing economic development in Kāpiti. The rest of this cost is funded by the districtwide general rate. - Paekākāriki community rate
Funds historic debt-servicing costs for roading, stormwater and coastal protection, loan-servicing costs on a loan to the Paekākāriki Community Trust to help with refurbishing St Peters Hall, and Paekākāriki Community Board expenses, including local grants. - Ōtaki community rate
Funds community initiatives of significance to the Ōtaki community, such as grants to the Ōtaki Heritage Bank Preservation Trust to help fund the museum’s activities; Otaki Community Board expenses, including local grants. - Water conservation device loan rate
Funds interest-free loans to individual properties for approved water conservation systems.
Greater Wellington Regional Council (GWRC) rates
In general your regional rates fund public transport (trains and buses), river management and flood protection, possum and predator control, emergency management, environmental education and sustainability, land management, regional parks and forests.
General rate
The regional general rate is mainly used to fund ‘public good’ activities that benefit the region as a whole. It funds most of: regional leadership, including mana whenua engagement; emergency management; parks; policy and planning; environmental science; biodiversity; understanding flood risk; and the Wairarapa water use project. It also funds 50 percent of other flood protection activities.
Targeted rates
- Public transport: This rate contributes to public transport funding, including services and infrastructure.
- River management: This rate funds flood protection services in local communities.
- Regional economic development: This rate includes funding for the Wellington regional economic development agency.
- Warm Greater Wellington: This rate is for properties that use GWRC assistance for clean heat and insulation.
- Wairarapa schemes: These are rates are set on specific properties in the Wairarapa river management schemes to fund flood protection, and land management activities affecting those properties.
For more information about Greater Wellington rates, visit their website at www.gw.govt.nz