Appeal Court backs ruling against council for $2m

A $2 million victory over the Waikato Regional Council for overcharging for rates on power station land has been upheld by the Court of Appeal.

A judgment released yesterday by the Court of Appeal also instructed the council to pay ECNZ costs of $6000.

In October last year, the High Court found the Government-owned Electricity Corp of New Zealand had overpaid rates by $2,054,456.34 during most of the 1990s.

The saga dated back to April 1, 1990, when the council began levying rates on land held by ECNZ. Between 1992 and 1994, ECNZ lodged objections to the valuations by Valuation New Zealand on its power stations.

It took until October 1998 before a Court of Appeal decision meant the former Valuation NZ figure of more than $4.8 billion for all power stations was cut back to $3.9 billion. It took another two years before values were given to individual power stations.

ECNZ asked for a refund on its overpayment. In 2000 the council refunded just over $500,000, refusing to pay the rest, saying there was a legal five-year time limit on refunds.

The former ECNZ is now just a shell company after the breakup of power generation companies, including Mighty River Power, Genesis and Meridian, which are all still state-owned.

- NZPA