Making rates simpler and fairer

By now, all Far North property owners should have received their latest rates invoice from the Council. I’m sure this is one letter (or email) most of you would prefer not to receive. I’m also sure that all of us can think of more enjoyable things to spend our money on. However, without the services paid for by rates, it would be almost impossible to maintain the living standards we enjoy in the Far North.

Rates fund our roads, footpaths and bridges. They pay for water supplies, wastewater and stormwater, waste management, parks, sports fields, playgrounds, public toilets, lighting, wharves, boat ramps and our public libraries. To fund these services, the Council relies primarily on rates levied on property owners. A smaller percentage of the Council’s income comes from subsidies, fees and charges. This is a complex funding arrangement that can often seem bewildering and unfair. 

Your councillors believe the rating system can be simplified. We also think rates can be made fairer. To achieve that, we are undertaking a review of our rating system as part of the next Long Term Plan 2021-31. This is our guiding document and it sets out the Council’s key projects and proposals for the next 10 years.  We have outlined seven options that we think will make the system simpler and fairer in a newsletter we sent out with the latest rates invoice.  We’d like to get your feedback on these before a formal proposal goes to public consultation in March.  Go to Rates Review 2021 page for more information and to take part in our online survey. 

One of the key proposals is to move as many charges as possible into the general rate to simplify the system. We are proposing to use the capital value of your property (the value of the land plus any improvements, including buildings) instead of the land value, to calculate your rates. We believe this will make the system fairer and we would apply the change over 10 years to ease the transition. 

We are also proposing to reduce the commercial rates differential to ease the financial burden for businesses.  You will probably want to know how the proposals will affect your rates.  There is a sample rates information database on our website that will allow you to compare your current rates with potential rates based on the options we are proposing.  This won’t tell you exactly what your new rates will be, but it will give you a rough idea. 

The seven options are suggestions only and were selected by councillors during workshops with staff. You can suggest alternatives in the comments section of the survey or email feedback directly to submissions@fndc.govt.nz  How we fund services in the district affects everyone, so please make the time to find out about the proposals and have your say before the informal feedback period closes on 13 November.