Rates 101

What are rates?
  • Rates are a tax
  • Rates are independent from the levels of benefit received (often an indirect visibility of benefit)
  • The Local Government Rating Act 2002 is NZ’s rating statute or rules on how rates can be set
  • The Rating Valuations Act 1998 underpins property valuations used to set rates
Factors that are consider in formulating how a council sets a rate policy:
  • Equity
  • Affordability
  • Simplicity
  • Visibility
  • Stability
  • Adequacy
  • Comparability
  • Efficiency

What are the main types of rates?
  • General Rate - Based off the value of a property and applies to all rateable properties
  • Uniform Annual General Charge (UAGC) - Fixed annual amount that applies to all rateable properties
  • Targeted Rate - Set for one or more specific activities and may be applied to all properties or to a subset of properties (area of benefit)

Rates are a little complicated. But if you'd like to find out more - Try This!

Consultation has concluded

<span class="translation_missing" title="translation missing: en.projects.blog_posts.show.load_comment_text">Load Comment Text</span>