Response to Rates Review requests

The Council does not intend to carry out a rates review of those properties directly affected by the Eastern options for the following reasons:

• the situation property owners are currently facing is a direct result of the Government and NZTA’s announcement of  the Expressway options;
• Council’s preferred option is to two-lane the Western Link, improve rail and bus services and upgrade the State Highway, four-laning where necessary.  This option has the least impact on property owners in the district while still providing the improved highway performance the Minister and NZTA are seeking;
• any claims relating to the impact of the Expressway options are the direct responsibility of NZTA.

Property valuations and the impact on a property’s rates

Quotable Value (QV) revalue all the properties of the District every three years.  The last valuation was carried out as at 1 November 2008.

Quotable Value can only revalue properties within the final roading designation once the roading designation has been approved and incorporated in the Council’s District Plan.  This will take some time as the roading designation at this stage will need to follow the RMA process.

Properties outside the final roading designation will not be revalued until 1 November 2011.

The structure of Council’s current rating system is as follows:

	% of Total Rates
Rates based on land value	30%
Rates based on capital value (stormwater)	7%
Water and Wastewater fixed charges	35%
Other fixed charges (community facilities, roading)	28%
TOTAL	100%

Only 37% of the Council’s total rates are based on the property values either land value or capital value.  The balance of the rates are targeted rates for water, wastewater, community facilities and roading.

Due to the relatively smaller proportion of your property’s rates which are based on property values, the impact of a lower property valuation on your total rates would not be as significant as the situation where over 50% of your rates was based on its property value.

Developed urban properties tend to have a lower proportion of total rates based on property values than the average of 37% for the District as the average includes rural properties and vacant land which have a higher proportion (>37%) based on property values because they do not tend to have the same level of targeted rates for services as developed urban properties.

It needs to be noted that only the properties within the final NZTA roading designation which will need to be incorporated in the District Plan, could be subject to a revaluation by Quotable Value prior to 1 November 2011.  That would only occur once the final roading designation is approved for inclusion in the District Plan which would need to follow the RMA process under current legislation.