Pumped up & over-rated

Hit at the pump, and hit by rates – it’s not a cheap time to live in and around Wellington. It was a double blow for the region’s residents yesterday, with new figures showing we are among the highest ratepayers in the country, while petrol prices are also varying wildly following the recent Saudi oil attacks, hitting vehicle owners in the pocket.

Wellington region home owners are among the country’s highest residential ratepayers, with four councils listed inside the 10 most expensive areas.

Figures released by the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union yesterday show residential home owners in Carterton are paying the thirdhighest average rates of any council area nationwide, with Porirua, Wellington, and Ka¯ piti Coast not far behind.

That means with a population of just over 9000, and fewer than 5000 ratepayers, Carterton home owners are paying just $254 a year less than top-placed Auckland, which has a population of almost 1.7 million and a ratepayer base of more than 600,000.

Porirua City is in seventh place, ahead of Wellington City in ninth and the Ka¯ piti Coast district in 10th.

Carterton Mayor John Booth said the increase was largely because of a wastewater treatment plan upgrade.

‘‘This highlights the sensitivity of rate increase numbers for a small council like ourselves.

‘‘We have kept costs of that project to a minimum and the project was the right thing to do both culturally and environmentally.’’

The figures came from the taxpayers’ union’s latest annual ratepayer report, which compares the country’s 64 territorial authorities.

Union spokesman Louis Houlbrooke said smaller councils in the Wellington region continued to extract more revenue from rates than Wellington City Council.

‘‘Carterton justifies its ‘rates resistance’ by charging residents an average of $3133 a year – the third-highest amount in the country.’’

Councillors in Porirua and Ka¯ piti should be wary of a similar backlash ahead of the upcoming local body

elections, Houlbrooke said. ‘‘Porirua spends a disproportionate amount on personnel costs, while Ka¯ piti Coast spends an alarmingly high figure – $428 per household – just on financing its debt.’’ Porirua Mayor Mike Tana said the council had been working hard to keep rates below the forecast 5 per cent increase in its Long-Term Plan. Average rates in the city had dipped slightly compared with the previous year.

‘‘A lot of Porirua’s infrastructure is ageing and a lot of money has been put aside for that, and we

also have the challenge of more people coming into the city.’’

Ka¯piti Mayor K Gurunathan said rates rises had been under careful scrutiny by councillors.

‘‘Councillors and I are always looking at ways to keep rates rises as low as possible, and a number of projects have been deferred to do this.’’

Wellington Mayor Justin Lester said the city’s rates rise was being driven by major projects such as earthquake-strengthening the Wellington Town Hall and St James Theatre, and an increased focus on resilience.

‘‘We are spending more on securing our water supply and the robustness of our stormwater and sewerage systems.

‘‘The city needs to spend this money if it wants to cope with an increasing population, natural events and the impact of climate change. We have asked the public and there is widespread support for the work.’’

Yesterday, two Wellington petrol stations, just 2 kilometres apart, showed a 33 cent variance in price. At Waitomo Tinakori, 91 octane was pumping at $2.09 a litre but at Z Harbour City it cost $2.42/l. The Automobile Association says Z Energy and BP were too quick to raise their prices after drone attacks on Saudi oil sites and since Monday the global oil commodity price had fallen – so fuel prices also needed to reflect that.