Your rates bill

Rates are a charge against a property (rating unit) that is set by the local and regional councils to provide and maintain all sorts of local services like safe roads and footpaths, recycling, parks and playgrounds and community facilities like pools and libraries

From the millions it takes to run our towns each year, just over half comes from rates. The other half comes other sources such as fees and charges, contributions from developers as well as governemnt subsidies and contributions.

When calculating rates, some of the things rates are impacted by are:

• What town you live in (we have targeted ward rates for each of our different towns).
• What your property is worth (this is called a Capital Value General Rate and is based on an independent valuation of your property).
• How many dwellings you have on a property (this is charged through something called a Uniform Annual General Charge).