Paper millionaires hit by rates squeeze
Individual Auckland home valuations released on Monday will please some who are made paper millionaires, and scare others who fear rates bill rises.
While some have welcomed higher property valuations as a sign they may get more when they sell, those on fixed incomes such as pensioners say they cannot cope with steep rate rises.
City wide the average increase in property values was 46 per cent compared to the last assessed value in 2014.
Pam Snowden, 75, who has lived in Auckland all her life, purchased her Remuera home in 2013.
She receives a pension of $600 a week and is fearful that a new CV could price her out of her home.
The property in Abbotts Way has a 2014 CV of $1.3 million and Snowden pays about $4000 a year in rates - or $80 a week.
‘‘For a pensioner, after you pay the electricity bill and the phone bill et cetera, that is quite a lot of money,’’ she said.
Being a property manager for more than 25 years, Snowden said she saw a lot of elderly people forced out of their homes because they could no longer afford the rates.
‘‘Hopefully that doesn’t happen to me,’’ she said.
Snowden bought her first home in 1970 on Orakei Rd for $10,000.
Age Concern Auckland chief executive Kevin Lamb said a rates rise could be extremely detrimen-
‘‘After you pay the electricity bill and the phone bill et cetera, that is quite a lot of money’’ Pam Snowden
tal to those on low-level fixed incomes.
Elderly people who survived on nothing but their superannuation payments would inevitably struggle to cover the cost of any rates increase, he said.
‘‘It is possible for those on low incomes to apply for a rates rebate from the council and it is incumbent on the council to ensure that there is simple and transparent communication about this sent out at the same time as any notification of a rates increase,’’ Lamb said.
‘‘It is also important to ensure that it is easy for older people to apply, allowing for the simple reality that many older people will not be able to access online information or forms.’’
Auckland Council’s head of rates, Debbie Acott, said an increase in property value did not necessarily mean a corresponding increase in rates.