Mayor in line for big rates bill drop
Hamilton ratepayers said to be angry over proposed changes which would hit young families and retirees
Hamilton mayor Andrew King’s annual rates bill will drop about 14 per cent, saving him almost $22,000, under the council’s proposed rates changes, according to data supplied to the Herald.
Hamilton residents received letters last week informing them of a proposed average rates increase of 9.5 per cent for the next two years and 3.8 per cent for the following eight.
The changes, outlined in the council’s draft long-term plan, are based on the council’s preferred option to increase rates, move to capital value rating faster and introduce a $500 uniform annual general charge (UAGC).
Herald calculations, which were verified by property information company CoreLogic or title information, show King’s Hamilton properties would have an overall decrease in rates from $153,348.49 to $131,476 in 2018/19 as established using the council’s online rates calculator.
About 21 per cent of ratepayers (12,200 people) would see their rates decrease or remain unchanged under the proposal.
King has significant property interests in the city. The Herald’s search shows he owns or has an interest in more than 30 addresses.
The council’s conflict of interest register for elected members states he is the owner of a property in Hamilton Central and a beneficiary of trusts that own various properties in Hamilton East, Dinsdale, Nawton and Frankton.
The majority of the properties King owns or has an interest in are lowervalue commercial properties in Frankton and Nawton.
King’s own home in Liverpool St in central Hamilton, which has a capital value of $1.37m, will also have a significant decrease under the proposal, with his rates dropping 16 per cent to $6800 for 2018/19.
Under the council’s plan to move from land value to capital value, properties with relatively high value buildings are likely to pay more in rates, while properties with cheaper buildings would pay less.
“There’s going to be a number of industrial properties that will be getting a decrease,” Hamilton City Council chief executive Richard Briggs told the Herald.
The Herald provided King with a spreadsheet yesterday morning of the properties it’s understood he owned and estimates of how much he stood to save. But he replied that he was unable to look at the document or respond until later in the week.
Hamilton Residents and Ratepayers Association president Mischele Rhodes said ratepayers were angry over the proposed changes which were going to hit young families and retirees.
Instead of focusing on the savings the mayor was going to make, Rhodes said she was more interested in the people on fixed incomes and how much more they were going to have to pay.
Hamilton Grey Power president and former city councillor Roger Hennebry said rates were increasing by an average $500 per ratepayer. He feared it could drive pensioners out of the city.
Rates on Hennebry’s own home in Harrowfield were jumping 45 per cent — an extra $1700 in the first year.
“If [King’s] going to be that financially better off then he’s not thinking of the poorer people in town . . . or the superannuitants.”
Hennebry urged councillors to raise a potential conflict of interest in connection with King’s property portfolio.
The council voted on the rating changes last year. It is a softer approach from King’s initial proposal in November which was to raise rates by 16.5 per cent to deal with what he described as the city’s debt problem.