Thousands of low-income householders in Tauranga are taking advantage of the city council's multi-million dollar rates rebate scheme.
So far, 3200 ratepayers have applied for a subsidy on their rates, with the number tracking to slightly exceed last year's 4370 applications.
Council's land and rating information team leader Jim Taylor
said it meant that nearly 10 per cent of Tauranga's 47,000 residential ratepayers were eligible. The vast majority were pensioners on fixed incomes.
The maximum rebate was $590, with last year's payout totalling $2.42 million in Tauranga. Applications were running at 2 per cent ahead of last year and had reached $1.76 million.
The Government has increased the threshold for eligibility from $23,240 of household income to $23,650. Additional income was unchanged at $500 per dependent. The maximum rebate has increased by $10 to $590.