How much have your rates increased over the years?

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#3433973 13-Nov-2025 08:45

Eva888:

. To add insult, we have to pay extra for our rubbish bags.

Be thankful, it means that you cab control how much you spend.. if you manage to keep rubbish down in one week you might not need a bag until next week,,

The Council are wanting to take that control from you with the new "organics" collection, which will then also lump you with a rubbish wheely bin that will add an estimated extra $100-$150 a year to rates for every household, (this is net of the savings of not buying bags)

gregmcc

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#3434024 13-Nov-2025 08:58

I put together some figures last year based on my rates, (Waikato District)

% change

2024/2025 $4,163.36 14.18478619

2023/2024 $3,646.16 8.619467234

2022/2023 $3,356.82 7.138138052

2021/2022 $3,133.17 12.52424186

2020/2021 $2,784.44 3.029719969

2019/2020 $2,702.56 5.518051874

2018/2019 $2,561.23 10.78128176

2017/2018 $2,311.97 -4.005098757

2016/2017 $2,408.43 1.434912987

2015/2016 $2,374.36 1.816466552

2014/2015 $2,332.00 5.205696988

2013/2014 $2,216.61

The 2025/26 year is not shown but is a little over $4,500 and does not include water usage charges and rubbish bag stickers, so for us since 2013 rates have doubled. These figures do not include Waikato Regional rates at $501 this year.

the -4% for 2017/18 was when variable water charges were introduced - the REDUCED the fixed charge (yes, they are charging two sets of charges for water).

**edited to fix poor formating

sir1963

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#3434025 13-Nov-2025 09:08

cddt:

John19612:

In reality, the increase will be greater than predicted as NPDC is moving to metered water in a year or so.

If the experience of other places is anything to go by, the implementation of water meters immediately reduces usage by about 25%.

And THEN they change tact and say they have hundreds of millions in asset that need to make a profit and raise the price of water by 30% +

Eva888

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#3434028 13-Nov-2025 09:26

wellygary:

Eva888:

. To add insult, we have to pay extra for our rubbish bags.

Be thankful, it means that you cab control how much you spend.. if you manage to keep rubbish down in one week you might not need a bag until next week,,

The Council are wanting to take that control from you with the new "organics" collection, which will then also lump you with a rubbish wheely bin that will add an estimated extra $100-$150 a year to rates for every household, (this is net of the savings of not buying bags)

My point is that when paying exorbitant rates which includes rubbish collection, rubbish bags should be included in my rates.

Give me a sticker to put on any bag I choose rather than force me to buy your flimsy yellow bag that bursts when knocked over in the wind.

gregmcc

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#3434030 13-Nov-2025 09:36

The issue for lots of people is the constant BIG jumps in rates, if you refuse to pay they either force a sale so the rates can be recovered, or they can tell your bank to take it from your accounts (if you have a mortgage). So, the choice is to either pay now or pay later.

I think the issue behind the big rises are that councils are very risk adverse, so instead of doing things in house they contract out everything they can moving the risk to the contractors who then charge like a wounded bull......

MikeB4

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#3434032 13-Nov-2025 09:42

Our rates (Te Awakairangi) were $860pa when we purchased our current home. They are now $7,788pa in the current rating year

Here is a crazy notion, lets give peace a chance.

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#3434036 13-Nov-2025 10:00

Whangarei District Council have rates history going back until 2009/10 rating year, so looking at a family member's place, between 2009/10 and 2025/6, rates are 2.6x higher (Capital Value for context has increased 2.3x). Last year to current year comparison is 8.7% increase despite slight CV drop. Their neighbours made a comment that apparently they're set for an even bigger increase next year based on current plans (I think they said 12%-ish), they gave it as an example of how annoying WDC can be.

sir1963

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#3434038 13-Nov-2025 10:03

gregmcc:

The issue for lots of people is the constant BIG jumps in rates, if you refuse to pay they either force a sale so the rates can be recovered, or they can tell your bank to take it from your accounts (if you have a mortgage). So, the choice is to either pay now or pay later.

I think the issue behind the big rises are that councils are very risk adverse, so instead of doing things in house they contract out everything they can moving the risk to the contractors who then charge like a wounded bull......

The other big issues with councils is the lack of preventative maintenance , as well as delayed replacement.

Eventually it all catches up and they end up spending more money.

The other issues is increased housing density, if they double/tripple/or more the number of residencies in an area then all the basic services will need to be replaced/upgraded to cope with the new demand.

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#3434039 13-Nov-2025 10:13

Wheelbarrow01:

I bought my house in Christchurch in December 2015. Rates at that time totaled $2163 per annum. Now they are $4369 (up 101% in 10 years).

Mine have close to doubled as well $3512 in 2017 and now circa $6200

PCC has some of the highest rates in the country

Any views expressed on these forums are my own and don't necessarily reflect those of my employer.

mudguard

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#3434042 13-Nov-2025 10:38

sir1963:

The other big issues with councils is the lack of preventative maintenance , as well as delayed replacement.

Eventually it all catches up and they end up spending more money.

The other issues is increased housing density, if they double/tripple/or more the number of residencies in an area then all the basic services will need to be replaced/upgraded to cope with the new demand.

The Spin Off had a good headline

Rates rises are due to people voting against rates rises

https://thespinoff.co.nz/politics/10-07-2025/rates-rises-are-due-to-people-voting-against-rates-rises

Probably as simple as rates being too low for decades. I don't know. I've only been a home owner for five years. Took a long time to save up on one income.

geek3001

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#3434044 13-Nov-2025 10:43

Auckland.

$720 per quarter in 2013.

$761 per quarter in 2015, say 5% increase over two years.

$1,200 per quarter in 2025, say 58% increase over ten years.

Looks to me like the rate of annual increase has increased at a higher rate in recent years (excuse the puns).

I believe the rates will increase significantly over the next few years as Council needs lots of money to replace aging infrastructure. They either borrow, or take from ratepayers, both of which are basically the same as we have to pay the interest on borrowed money.

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alasta

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#3434049 13-Nov-2025 10:56

I pay $4200 per year for a small one bedroom unit in Wellington.

There are probably some legitimate reasons for the recent increases such as generational under investment in infrastructure, and rising insurance costs. On the other hand, poor governance has led the WCC write blank cheques for white elephant projects like the town hall, and radical left wing ideology has seen huge sums of money wasted on cycleways, the sludge facility and the organics collection. It's not a good look at a time when a lot of households are struggling to even put food on the table.

elpenguino

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#3434052 13-Nov-2025 11:05

ha - cycleways are a communist plot ! Haven't heard that one before.

Interesting that every council candidate promises to rein in rates rises yet here we are.

Most of the posters in this thread are just like chimpanzees on MDMA, full of feelings of bonhomie, joy, and optimism. Fred99 8/4/21

tripper1000

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#3434059 13-Nov-2025 11:35

83 % rise over 7 years.

2019: $2140 pa (including waste water)

2025: $3392 pa + ~$516 waste water = $3,908

I'm still eagerly awaiting the savings that amalgamation and creation of supercity was promised to bring.

All I've seen is less in-house maintenance, more contracting out, more consultants, more compliance.

Amalgamation of the IT alone was forecast to cost $100 million. I'm sure it won't have come in under budget.

tdgeek

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#3434062 13-Nov-2025 11:42

ChCh

2017 when we moved in $1100 per quarter

2025 $1600 per quarter

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