He has paid two rates bills, and a third is due on February 20.
“I still haven’t got my rebate.
”It’s $700 I have to find which I don’t expect to have to find - I’m 78 and on a pension.
“These are the people they’re ripping off.”
Griffin said he contacted the council several times and was told 3000 people were in the same boat.
“I’ve been to council and they said we haven’t got the staff to do it.
“They told me over 3000 people are waiting to be paid.”
As at January 31, FNDC had received about 1750 rates rebate applications for the current financial year, with applications at various stages of assessment.
FNDC corporate services group manager Charlie Billington said: “Council has recognised the need to improve turnaround times for processing rates rebate applications and approved system and process improvements in late 2025.”
Billington said the changes were expected to improve processing times from the first quarter of 2026 and not incur additional costs.
“Council’s immediate focus is progressing current applications so eligible rebates can be applied as soon as assessments are completed.”
Billington said all rates rebate applicants had received acknowledgement letters confirming their applications have been received.
“Council expects all rates rebate applications will be assessed before the end of the current rating year, with eligible rebates applied where statutory criteria are met.
“As the improvements take effect, council is targeting processing timeframes per application of four weeks or less, subject to application completeness and eligibility checks.”
The council did not answer questions about whether staff shortages had contributed to the delays.
Last September, the Northern Advocate reported that about half of the Far North District Council’s staff of about 450 have left in the past three years.
The figures, released under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act showed from October 1, 2022 to June 5, 2025, 219 staff voluntarily resigned and 29 were laid off.
Sixteen former staff had taken personal grievance or legal action, with 12 cases settled at a total cost of about $1.27m.
Jenny Ling is a senior journalist at the Northern Advocate. She has a special interest in covering human interest stories, along with finance, roading, and social issues.
