Media Release

Major fluctuations in the impact of the latest revaluations in the Far North have encouraged the Far North District Council to seriously consider a change to capital value rating.

The council’s interest in reviewing the basis on which rates are calculated was first raised in the Far North Future Plan (LTCCP) and the council now intends to follow through in this year’s draft Annual Plan.

Shifting from the current land value formula to capital value rating is expected to be the preferred option when the council moves into a public consultation phase over the next few months.

However the exhaustive process required to change the basis of rating means even if there is strong community support for the move, the change will not take effect until the 2009/10 rating year.

Revenue & Policy Manager Chris Ellington said today the latest revaluations showed much less volatility in capital values as opposed to land values. A change to capital valuation rating potentially would even out some of the peaks and troughs which were creating anomalies under the current system.

As an example, the current revaluations showed some of the largest land value hikes had occurred in areas with high deprivation indices. This raised moral issues of the ability of some property owners to pay an increased share of the rates.

"This is less likely to be an issue under capital value rating. There is a growing trend towards capital value rating across the country with more than 50% of councils now using capital values as the basis on which rates are calculated ," he said.

"However any change will require a full public consultation programme. What the council is doing at this point is to indicate that capital value rating is its preferred option," he said.

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Page created/updated: 30 January, 2008

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