Have you ever wondered what your rates cover? While the rates notice might not be particularly welcome in your mailbox, your payments do help Council provide a number of essential community facilities, services and infrastructure.
Through your rates you help maintain and provide sports grounds, art museum, libraries, parks, reserves, pensioner housing, grants, gardens, cemeteries, pool and playground facilities. Other charges include administration costs and community services.
You help pay the cost of maintaining or providing roads, footpaths, parking, bridges, quarries and road sealing areas.
You also pay for essential services such as water, sewerage or rubbish disposal but only if you use, or have access to those essential services.
The council sends out a maximum of four rates installments during the financial year i.e. between July 1 and June 30. Installments are in July, October, January and April. One payment option allows for a 5% discount if the whole year’s rates are paid by the 20th of August.
Your total rates account is made up of several parts:
The General Differential Rates charge differs between property types. To calculate this charge the land is valued without any improvements such as houses, swimming pools or other structures. The Uniform Annual General Charge is a standard flat charge that every property owner pays per property. The Uniform Annual Waste Facilities Charge is charged to every rateable property to fund the cost of kerbside and other recycling, litter bins, clearing of refuse from parks/reserves and streets, roadside rubbish, dealing with hazardous wastes, removing abandoned vehicles and the seasonal clean-ups required at beaches and other tourist locations. Some costs associated with council's waste minimisation program are also included. These are services that benefit the whole District rather that individual users of the District's rubbish collection and disposal services.
Other charges are for services directly provided to property owners by the council.
The District Council also collects rates and charges determined by and on behalf of the Northland Regional Council.
The District Council has no control over the amount charged but simply acts as a collection agency.
Enquire at the District Council Customer Services on 09 430-4237 about the number of payment options available to you.