Rates

Paying in Person

Rates can be paid using cash or EFTPOS at the following sites:

• Tokoroa Office - Torphin Crescent Tokoroa
• Putāruru Office - Overdale Street Putāruru
• Tīrau Agency - Tīrau Information Centre Tīrau

Direct Debits

(Weekly, fortnightly, monthly, quarterly or annually)

You can pay your rates automatically from your bank account using our direct debit service. If you wish to pay by direct debit please request an authority form from one of our customer service officers. Weekly and fortnightly direct debits operate on Tuesdays or Thursdays, monthly operates on the 7th or 20th of each month, annual on 7 September and quarterly on 7 September, December, March, with June being the last due date of payment for each rates instalment. Council will automatically adjust payment amounts annually to ensure rates are paid by the due dates. See the direct debits section on this website for more information.

Automatic Payments

(Frequencies as determined by your bank)

If you wish to pay by automatic payment, please request an authority form from one of our customer service officers or set this up with your bank using our bank account number shown on page 2 of our rates invoices. Please ensure that the property address and the valuation number shown on the invoice are included as references with payments. Automatic payment amounts will likely need amending each year and one-off top-ups may be required to ensure rates are paid by the due dates for each instalment to avoid late payment penalties. Please note that fortnightly payments can be problematic as the number of payments made will alternate between six and seven each quarter. For these reasons we strongly recommend using our Direct Debit service.

Telephone - Internet Banking - Direct Credit

See our Electonic Payments page for necessary information regarding setting up or making electronic payments.

It is your responsibility to ensure that the full amount of the instalment is paid by the due date. If you miss a due date a 10% penalty will be applied to the unpaid instalment balance.

Rates Calendar

Rates invoices are produced on a quarterly basis and are due for payment on the following dates:

Covering the Financial Period 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027.

Penalties

Council charges penalties for unpaid rates in accordance with Sections 57 and 58 of the Local Government Rating Act 2002.

Rates Rebates

Rates Rebates is a Central Government scheme to help low-income ratepayers pay their rates on owner-occupied homes. For information about rates rebates, including a calculator to see how much you may be eligible for - see www.govt.nz/rates-rebates

Rates rebates must be applied for each year. Application forms are posted to ratepayers that have applied for a rebate in the previous rating year. First time applicants can collect an application form from Council's offices or download a copy from the above website.

Rebate amounts are applied as a payment to the rates account once approved by Council on behalf of the Department of Internal Affairs. Applicants are then advised in writing of the outcome of their application. Rebate amounts do not show separately on invoices. They are included in the payment(s) received total on the invoice.

If you receive a rates rebate, and pay your rates by direct debit, please see the direct debits section on this website for information about payment options.

There are different maximum income thresholds for SuperGold card holders. If you believe you are eligible to hold a SuperGold card but have lost it or not received one, contact MSD on 0800 25 45 65 or email your details to information@supergold.govt.nz

For more information about SuperGold cards see SuperGold

Selling or Buying Properties

When property ownership changes, solicitors are responsible for calculating the vendor and purchaser's share of the rates. Standard practice, if the vendor has not already paid the rates, is for solicitors to pay Council the amount of rates due to the end of the quarter in which the sale settles. The solicitor will obtain funds from the vendor up to the date of sale, and from the purchaser from the date of sale to the end of the quarter. This is called 'apportioning" and should be shown on solicitors' settlement statements.

However, if a property settlement occurs early in a quarterly period, the solicitors may not make any payment to Council for the rates. They will still collect the vendors share of the rates from the start of the quarter to the date of settlement but will pass these on to the purchaser. This will show on the solicitor's settlement statement. When this occurs, the purchaser will be responsible for paying rates for the entire quarter to Council, but they will have received compensation from the vendor for the part of the rates before they took ownership. Council is not involved in calculating apportionments.

Subdivisions

Rates on a property are not impacted by a subdivision until 1 July following the date of issue of new property titles. Rates continue to be payable for the remainder of the rating year on the original property (the parent property) as set in July prior to the cancellation of the parent property's title(s). Rates are payable by the ratepayer recorded on the parent property as at the date the subdivision is completed. When new titles are issued, the new properties (children) will have rating valuations assessed and notices sent to the owners. The new valuations will form part of the basis for rates of the new properties from 1 July.

If a new property created from a subdivision (child) is sold before rates are payable on that property, standard practice is for the solicitor to pay the rates to Council on the original parent property in full though to 30 June. They will calculate a share of the rates paid and divide this amongst the vendor and purchaser. Council is not involved in this calculation.

Objectives of the Rating System

The objectives of the rating system are:

• To ensure that the cost of rates are spread as fairly and equitably as practical to provide sufficient revenue to cover operating and capital expenditure not covered by other sources of revenue.
• To ensure that policy complies with the relevant legislation.

In developing our Revenue and Financing Policy, we made an assessment of the public good and private benefit generated by each service provided. Arising from this assessment, Council identified the portion of cost for each service to be funded from rates revenue.

Considerations

In selecting a rate for each service funded wholly or partially by rates revenue, Council considered and sought to reflect the following principles:

• Council activities - incorporating the principles of community outcome, patterns of benefits in public goods/general equity, the beneficiary pays principle, inter-generational equity and the exacerbator paying for negative effects they cause.
• Funding sources for each activity - ensuring that, in addition to a community outcome, there is fairness and equity, significant adjustment difficulties are balanced and comply with Council policy and are in the best interests of ratepayers and residents.
• Funding system for Council - the aggregation of funding for each activity is modified to take community wellbeing into account.

The Rating System

General Rate

Rating legislation requires that a large portion of Council's total rates revenue is charged based on property value. This is done via a general rate charged to all rateable properties based on their rating valuation. A wide variety of services are funded by the general rate and these are listed in the Annual Rates Assessment sent to all ratepayers with the invoice for instalment one. Legislation provides for different ways in which to levy a general rate. However, there is no legislation that directs Council to favour one method over another. The key is to select a method that is effective, efficient and transparent for the District in allocating the general rate requirement. The options available are:

• The Annual Value System requires valuations based on the theoretical rental value of property. This method is not considered suitable for a mixed rural/urban district.
• The Land Value System is used by a number of local authorities. The cost of rates is based on the value of land without taking into account the value of any improvements. Land value rating penalises owners of vacant urban property who are likely to use less services than a developed property. It also tends to shift the cost of the rates burden from urban property owners to rural landowners where land value tends to make up the majority of total value of a property.
• The Capital Value System is easy to understand, in that the total value placed on each property (land and improvements) is closer to the market value. As with the land value system, there are points for and against this system. Although not perfect, it is considered to more accurately represent an owners ability to pay compared to land value. There is the perception that the capital value system penalises commercial development however the argument countering this is that the additional rates charged are a small proportion of total; development costs and not likely to be a significant deterrent.

In summary, anomalies will always be present, whatever system is used. Some Councils use a mixture of capital and land value. The Capital Value System is the system currently in use in the South Waikato District. This suits a mixed urban/rural district with a significant range of land values, better than the land value system.

See the revaluations section of this website for more information about rating valuations.

Uniform Annual General Charge (UAGC)

Council applies a UAGC which funds the same services as the general rate. A UAGC is a fixed dollar charge that is not linked to property value and serves two purposes. It means that all ratepayers are contributing a base amount towards Councils services. It also, to a degree, reduces the incidence of very low and very high rates on individual properties that would arise if rates were based solely on property value.

UAGC's are charged based on the number of Separately Used or Inhabited Parts of a property. (SUIP). This means, for example, that a property with two houses is charged two UAGC's or a block of three shops is charged three UAGC's.

Targeted Rates

Council uses targeted rates when it is appropriate to collect revenue from one or more groups of ratepayers who receive a specific localised benefit. The majority of targeted rates are only charged on rating units located in urban areas where the relevant service is available. The result is that for properties of the same value, the rates for an urban property are higher than for a rural property that does not have the same services available. Some targeted rates are charged based on the number of SUIPs as described in the UAGC section above. Any targeted rates applying to a property will be listed on the annual rates assessment including the number and dollar amount of charges. The services funded by targeted rates include:

On a capital value basis:

• Stormwater services

On a uniform basis:

• Solid waste (rubbish) collection
• Wastewater disposal
• Water supply
• Clean heat

Council operates a rating system that meets the requirements of the revenue and financing principles without resorting to differential rating.

Non-Rateable Properties

Legislation stipulates that some properties are non-rateable. However non-rateable properties still have to pay rates charges for water supply, wastewater disposal and rubbish collection where these services are available.

There is a belief that all Government property, and Māori land is non-rateable. That is not correct. Schedule 1 of the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002 lists all properties that are deemed non-rateable.

Examples are: reserves, navigable lakes and rivers, libraries, museums, public swimming pools, schools, hospitals, churches, cemeteries, marae (excluding portions containing housing), wholly unused Māori freehold land (generally inaccessible), public roads and access ways, airports, land under railway lines.

Waikato Regional Council Rates

The South Waikato District Council is not responsible for Waikato Regional Council rates. These invoices cannot be processed by your local council. Contact Waikato Regional Council.