Far North ratepayer Gail Olliver says ever-increasing council rates and other costs are forcing her off her lifestyle block. Photo / Susan Botting
Northlanders’ rates payments are expected to climb to $374 million in the coming financial year, as a Kerikeri ratepayer says years of cumulative increases are forcing her off her land.
The region’s rates are projected to total $374m in 2026/2027 – a 10% increase on the $340m collected in the current financial year.
Oromahoe ratepayer Gail Olliver, 73, said she is selling the lifestyle block she bought in 2017 after moving from Auckland, which she had believed would be her forever home.
The retiree plans to move inland, where she said property is cheaper and rates lower than the $5000 she pays annually.
Rising rates, along with insurance and other cost increases, mean she can no longer afford to remain on the land.
“I am already paying $97 a week in rates. I think of it in weekly amounts because I have to,” Olliver said.
She said she is worried about Far North District Council’s proposed 6.7% rates rise, and the council’s rebating system means a two-year wait for any return entitlement.
Olliver “dabbles” in retail, selling new and used clothing and bric-a-brac from a small Kawakawa shop but said she makes little money.
She said she can barely make ends meet, despite income from a flat rental on her property, a boarder in the sleepout next to her house and money from her pension used for rates, insurance, power and mortgage payments.
Far North District Council’s group manager corporate services Charlie Billington did not comment on Olliver’s situation.
He said feedback on the council’s 2026/2027 Annual Plan was open until May 17.
Olliver believed the council amalgamations pushed for by the Government may serve the Far North well, as it could offer the district a larger ratepayer base to cover unique costs.
She is one of about 100,000 Northland ratepayers facing higher rates in 2026/2027.
The Far North, Kaipara and Whangārei district councils have proposed rates increases of between 5% and 10.1%.
Northland Regional Council proposed a rates freeze despite originally budgeting on a 4.04% increase in long-term planning.
The 2026/2027 rates are expected to provide Far North District Council with $76.455m, Kaipara $38.896m, Whangārei $129m and the regional council with $130m.
Whangārei Mayor Ken Couper said about two-thirds of people who made submissions on his council’s Annual Plan supported a flat 5% rates increase, one of three options put forward.
About a quarter favoured the 10.1% option.
The balance supported a third option, also set at 5% but adjusted so businesses would pay a slightly smaller share of the overall rates than residential ratepayers, or in some cases, have no increase.
Couper said Whangārei District Council’s budget would be finalised on May 24.
“As usual, the requests for increased levels of services are greater than the fiscal envelope available,” he said.
Mangakahia dairy farmer Andrew Booth, 39, said he preferred a lower increase, opting for the 5% option.
Couper previously warned halving the proposed increase would create a multimillion-dollar budget shortfall that would need to be addressed through a mix of cost savings, reduced services or increased debt.
Booth and his wife Vicky Booth farm the family property beside the Mangakahia River in Tītoki, about 70km upstream from the Kaipara Harbour.
He said he was not in favour of filling the gap through borrowing, which would increase council interest costs.
Booth urged the council to spend rates only on what was necessary and within its core responsibilities.
“What ratepayers need might be different from what they want,” he said.
Booth described rates as “a necessary evil” if communities expected council services. He welcomed he regional council’s proposed rates freeze.
The Government has signalled Northland Regional Council will disappear by 2028 under its local government restructuring.
Booth said amalgamating Whangārei District Council and the regional council could bring benefits where services were duplicated but warned any merger needed careful handling.
“If they can do it right, yes, but if things fall through the cracks, then I’m not so sure,” he said.
Kaipara ratepayer Elizabeth Card, 81, viewing her district council’s proposed 7.9% rates rise – after growth – with a degree of resignation.
Card said there was little ratepayers could do beyond “grizzle and carry on”.
The Dargaville retiree, who moved north from Auckland to be with family, has paid rates for 56 years and said she was concerned for people on fixed incomes.
“There are a lot of people in Kaipara struggling to make ends meet.”
Card believed public consultation or more information about the council’s rates rise would have been better.
Kaipara District Council said the council had not publicly consulted on its coming year’s Annual Plan because it reflected decisions already made through its long-term plan.
Public consultation on the proposed fees and charges for the coming year closed on Monday.
■ LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.