Tasman rates fourth highest

Ratepayers in Tasman District paid the fourth highest average residential rates bills in the country during the year to June 30, 2020, according to the latest Ratepayers’ Report from the New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union.

With average residential rates of $3228, Tasman District Council was behind top-placed Carterton District Council, whose residential ratepayers faced the highest average bills of $3639, Auckland Council ($3599) and Whakata¯ne District Council ($3314). Nelson City Council was in ninth place with average residential rates of $2971.

At $1815, Buller District Council had the lowest average residential rates in New Zealand in the year to June 30 when, on average, councils charged $2571 – an increase of $111 from the previous year.

The average residential rates in Tasman and Nelson in the year to June 30 were also higher than the previous year when the Tasman council was the third highest in the country with $3186, while the Nelson council was in 11th place with $2785.

While Tasman residential ratepayers faced higher average residential rates than their Nelson counterparts, it was the opposite for commercial ratepayers. Data from the Taxpayers’ Union reveals average non-residential rates in Nelson were $9583 in the year to June 30, compared with $4618 in Tasman District.

Taxpayers’ Union campaign manager Louis Houlbrooke pointed out the commercial rates in Nelson were second only to Auckland Council among the five unitary authorities in New Zealand.

‘‘I wouldn’t want to be a commercial ratepayer in Nelson city,’’ Houlbrooke said.

Unitary authorities also perform the functions of a regional council so are expected to have higher rates than other territorial authorities. The five unitary authorities are Auckland Council, Nelson City Council, and Gisborne, Tasman and Marlborough district councils.

The Ratepayers’ Report compiled the ‘‘ raw figures’’ from 66 of the country’s 67 territorial authorities with the exclusion of Chatham Islands Council, due to concerns surrounding that council’s workload pressure and ‘‘unique position’’. Only Waikato District Council was unwilling to provide the Taxpayers’ Union with either residential or nonresidential rates figures.

Houlbrooke said that once that raw data was presented, the onus was on the councils themselves to communicate with their ratepayers about the reasons for rates they struck.

Tasman district mayor Tim King said the Taxpayers’ Union report was one of the few places people could find such information.

However, those who accessed the data had to realise they may be comparing ‘‘apples, bananas and pears’’. In the case of the Nelson and Tasman councils, for example, Nelson used a land value system with differentials to set its rates while Tasman used a capital value system. That could explain the lower residential but higher commercial rates in Nelson compared with Tasman.

King acknowledged the Tasman District Council residential rates were high, part of which was due to its regional council functions as a unitary authority. The district also had areas of high growth, multiple communities and was spread over almost

‘‘I wouldn’t want to be a commercial ratepayer in Nelson city.’’

Louis Houlbrooke Taxpayers’ Union campaign manager

10,000 square kilometres, factors that required hefty investment in infrastructure.

‘‘All of that adds up to relatively high rates,’’ he said.

Nelson mayor Rachel Reese agreed with King that it could be ‘‘quite useful’’ to see the data for councils across New Zealand, but urged people to make any comparisons with an understanding that a range of methods were used for rating.

As a unitary authority, the city council faced ‘‘significant increased costs’’ over the past two years in relation to environmental standards. Funding set aside to manage the fresh water reforms, for instance, accounted for a full 1 per cent of the rates rise, Reese said.

Nelson City Council was a local body that also funded for depreciation.

‘‘You need to look at the asset value ... how we’re taking care of that in terms of maintenance and renewals,’’ Reese said, adding that she believed the city council was looking after its assets well overall.

When it came to rates, ‘‘everyone always wants to pay less’’.

‘‘However, when it comes to the [Long Term Plan] not too many are prepared to give up services to get that outcome,’’ Reese said.

Houlbrooke said the league tables in the Ratepayers’ Report revealed ‘‘huge disparities’’ between councils in terms of how much they took in rates, how much they owed, and how much they spent on salaries.

‘‘Our annual Ratepayers’ Report helps ratepayers answer the question: could you be getting a better deal from your local council?

‘‘Local council staff should ask themselves how they might emulate their betterperforming neighbours,’’ he said.