Ratepayers say Whangārei District Council rates keep increasing, even for modest houses, with pensioners facing bills of up to $7000 a year. Photo / 123RF
Ratepayers say Whangārei District Council rates keep increasing, even for modest houses, with pensioners facing bills of up to $7000 a year. Photo / 123RF
Pensioners facing rates bills of up to $7000 a year say Whangārei District Council needs to do more to reduce costs and make its rating system fairer for those on low incomes.
But Whangārei Mayor Vince Cocurullo says the council is reducing costs but many assets have sufferedfrom a lack of maintenance over many years and now need expensive upgrades.
The council is considering its annual plan for 2025-26, after proposing a general rates increase of 10.7%, plus a new targeted rate for stormwater and increased charges for the likes of water and wastewater.
The council received 649 submissions, many complaining about the high rates increases. It received a further 142 submissions on its proposed fees and charges, although the majority of those submissions related to rates.
Tutukākā pensioner John Christmas said he and his wife were already struggling to pay their rates of $5570 a year but they could go up 28% to $7150 a year if all the preferred options in the annual plan consultation were accepted.
They had been in their modest 106sq m home, on a small 600sq m section, for more than 35 years but it now had a high land value because it had sea views, he said.
That is the same sentiment from Waiotira pensioners Richard and Evelyn Johnson, who are facing a rates increase of between 29% and 35%, according to the proposal.
Evelyn Johnson says lifestyle block ratepayers like herself have to grapple with washed-out culverts but still pay high rates. Photo / Denise Piper
The Johnsons live on an unsealed rural road and have no public transport, water, sewage, stormwater, cycle tracks nor kerbside rubbish collection.
However, lifestyle blocks like theirs were rated at the same rate as people who lived in residential areas, had more services and could more easily access amenities, Evelyn Johnson said.
“The massive complaints came through in oral submissions: ‘we live in the countryside and get no services’. Everyone said the same thing,” she said.
Evelyn Johnson feared the council was wasting money, such as spending $1.6 million on paving between the library and Lovers Lane.
The income threshold has increased to $45,000 - the rate for a couple receiving superannuation - and the maximum rebate will increase from $790 to $805 a year.
Richard and Evelyn Johnson face a rates bill of between $3385 and $3511 a year for their Waiotira property, which they are struggling to pay on their pension. Photo / Denise Piper
The council is considering changing the annual plan so the general rates increase is 9.7% rather than 10.7%. It will deliberate this idea, and other suggestions, at a council meeting on June 5.
Cocurullo said the council is making savings wherever it can, such as encouraging contractors to reduce their prices.
But the council is not able to have a zero rates increase, as suggested by some submitters, because local government costs keep going up and assets need to be maintained, he said.
“Every dollar is spent on things that need to be done.”
For many years, the council “sweated the assets” to keep rates rises down but maintenance was now outstanding, Cocurullo said.
Whangārei Mayor Vince Cocurullo says many assets like roads are now in need of expensive maintenace. Photo / Susan Botting
He gave the example of roads, many of which failed during Cyclone Gabrielle and now need repairs and better maintenance, such as clearing the drains to prevent further flooding.
The 2025-26 annual plan has $2.6m in unbudgeted emergency road repairs.
Cocurullo said some roads could still be years away from being fixed, such as the top of Memorial Dr, which has been closed by a slip since Cyclone Gabrielle in 2023.
Submitters also show support for Ruakākā Recreation Centre
Another issue attracting interest in the council’s annual plan is the second stage of the Ruakākā Recreation Centre.
More than 300 people signed a bulk submission, asking the council to fund $3.5 million toward the multi-use indoor sports hall and regional volleyball arena.
The $8.5m arena is being planned by the Ruakākā Recreation Centre Committee, which has already secured $1.8m from Northland Regional Council.
Council staff report support for the project and its location, but a lack of funds in the annual plan and three-year long-term plan.
This will be considered, alongside rates and other issues, at a full council meeting on Thursday.
Denise Piper is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on health and business. She has more than 20 years in journalism and is passionate about covering stories that make a difference.
