Rates season opens with the big one

By WAYNE THOMPSON

A 34 per cent rate increase will start landing in Aucklanders' letterboxes from tomorrow.

North Shore and Rodney homeowners will be the first to get their bills from the Auckland Regional Council.

It will be the first time ratepayers have had a separate invoice for regional transport, parks, planning and environmental services.

Previously the charges were included in local council rate demands.

In a fortnight, residents of Waitakere and southern Manukau City will learn how the ARC's need for $104 million in rates this year affects their household budgets.

Then, at fortnightly intervals, bills will arrive in suburban Auckland, Papakura and Franklin and Auckland's central and western suburbs.

The 450,000 bills being mailed make the ARC the largest rating agency in Australasia.

The 34 per cent overall increase is caused mostly by a rise in the transport budget for next financial year to $102.3 million.

It is on top of rate rises from local councils, which will send their own bills for the services they provide.

Rodney District approved an average rate increase of 4.17 per cent across the district.

But rural and township ratepayers will pay an average 5.17 per cent more and Hibiscus Coast residents 2.95 per cent more.

The rates will bring in $60 million for a budget that provides $100 million for capital works and $81 million for operational costs.

Franklin District Council lifted a proposed overall 15.1 per cent rise to 16.1 per cent during its budget debate.

This was mainly to double its spending on district economic development and promotion by $242,500 to $971,000.

Chief executive Phillipa Wilson said much of the rates rise was needed because for three years the council had a capital reserve fund to cushion rates rises by up to 15 per cent. This source had run dry.

North Shore City Council trimmed its proposed 5.02 per cent rise to 4.65 per cent for the average home after considering more than 300 submissions from ratepayers.

Mayor George Wood said the capital works budget was trimmed from $81.2 million to $76.7 million.

Papakura District has settled on an average rates increase of 7.9 per cent instead of the 7.6 per cent proposed in the draft budget.

Waitakere City will have a 4.8 per cent rate rise.

It would have been more, but the council pruned more than $1.5 million off expenses after a month of debate.

Manukau City's average rate increase will be 5.6 per cent after the council trimmed the proposed 6.5 per cent in the draft budget.

Mayor Sir Barry Curtis said the council had decided it could not run up a huge debt to pay for the needed infrastructure.

It would look at other ways of raising the money for these projects.

Auckland City has an overall rates increase of 2.5 per cent but last year's property revaluations, which rose on average 11.25 per cent, and a shift to uniform annual general charges mean individual increases will vary widely.

The average household increase is 5.4 per cent, or about $65.

Rate increases

Auckland 2.5%

Manukau 5.6%

North Shore 4.65%

Waitakere 4.8%

Rodney 4.17%

Papakura 7.9%

Franklin 16.1%

ARC 34%