Mayor Len Brown has proposed a change to Auckland Council’s rating policy for its upcoming Long-term Plan 2015-2025, in light of recent changes in property values across Auckland.
The latest revaluation figures in Auckland have altered the balance between business and residential ratepayers. While the average capital value in the business sector rose 15.8 percent, residential properties rose by an average of 34.8 percent.
“The increase in the value of Auckland properties makes no difference to how much money council receives in rates, but the resulting distribution of the payment of rates would mean business pays 8 per cent less, while residential ratepayers face an average 5 percent increase – this doesn’t seem fair to me,” says Mayor Brown.
The Mayor is proposing to offset the impact of revaluations by holding the business sector contribution to rates at the same proportion as 2014/2015 (33.3% of $1.4 billion), this will prevent additional rates being transferred to residents.
From 2016/17 this proportion will start to decline again until it reaches 25.8 percent in 2025/2026.
The Mayor is also proposing that the Uniform Annual General Charge (UAGC) – the single fixed rates charge that every ratepayer pays – remains at the current level, adjusted for the 2.5 per cent rate increase, of $381.