It just got a whole lot more expensive for New Zealand's richest man to put out his wheelie bins.
Billionaire Graeme Hart's annual rates bill from Auckland Council is set to hit more than $188,000 for his sprawling clifftop $100 million estate in the eastern suburbs, up from $174,000. Added to that are $60,000 in rates for his Waiheke holiday home. The good news for Hart is that the Waiheke rates will drop from $69,000 a year to $59,462 even though the property's value rose from $39m to $41m.
Hart and his wife, Robyn, bought their Glendowie land in the mid-90s for $2m and have gradually bought up surrounding properties to make up an extended family compound with several driveway entrances. Collectively the properties are now valued at more than $102m.
The estate includes a steep section on the cliff below Hart's home. The site was once owned by former bankrupted Sensation Yachts owner Ivan Erceg.
Erceg, the younger brother of late alcohol baron Michael Erceg, planned to build a lavish four-level home on the land overlooking Gentlemen's Bay. His plans were dashed when the land was seized by the Public Trust in 2009.
The Harts snapped up a bargain in a mortgagee sale from the Public Trust the same year for $1.125m, $2.243m less than Erceg paid and $3.095m less than the council valuation at the time. Now the cliff site is locked up behind chain-link fencing, and lighting and security cameras have been installed.
But as Auckland property values spiral, so do the rates bills. Like other Aucklanders, the Harts, who divide their time between their Glendowie home, their holiday home on Waiheke and their superyacht Ulysses, will have been notified of their new council valuation of $102.7m which will mean their rates will go up from August this year.
Auckland homeowners, particularly wealthy ones, will increasingly share the rates burden as the council gradually transfers a proportion from business and commercial properties to residential. The average general rate increase for residential properties will be around 4 per cent whereas business properties can expect an increase of about 2.5 per cent.
With the council's annual 2022/23 budget still not finalised, and Covid-fuelled costs going up by the month, rates are an estimate only at this stage. The final rates will be set after the budget is adopted in June and Aucklanders can expect their first invoice in August.
Apart from having their wheelie bins emptied and footpaths resealed, the rich and famous will also be contributing to the council's $1 billion climate action package to help address global heating over the next 10 years.
Out at Coatesville the cost of running the ex-Dotcom mansion just went up, with an expected rates rise to $58,900 a year. Now owned by Zuru's Mowbray clan, the Toy Mansion is home to Nick Mowbray and partner Monday Haircare entrepreneur Jaimee Lupton who are expecting their first child. The valuation for the 22ha property rose from $33m to $39.3m.
Mowbray's sister Anna and her partner, former All Black Ali Williams, will pay $47,000 in rates, an increase of $4000. The valuation for their Westmere waterfront twin-title went up from $19.4m to $26.4m. They paid $24m for the property in 2020 but have since demolished the existing house to make way for a new three-level, six-bedroom home.
We reported this week that Auckland's average home value has jumped $338,000 or 32 per cent in four years.
By comparison, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern will need to find only $5777 to pay her rates each year from her $471,000 salary. The Auckland home she and fiance Clarke Gayford bought together shot up in value from $1.7m five years ago to $2.8m today.
Ardern and Gayford's rates will rise by more than $1100 when the council invoices go out but National Party leader Christopher Luxon's have remained steady. The rates bill for his Remuera home, one of nine properties he owns, will rise by only $425 to $12,751 even though the property's valuation rose from $5.3m to $6.8m.
Briscoe's owner Rod Duke might have to crank up sales of towels and wine glasses to cover the $52,120 annual rates bill on his Herne Bay beachfront property, now valued at nearly $30m, up from $22m. Duke will also be paying rates on his home at ultra-exclusive golf club Tara Iti at Mangawhai and an apartment on the Gold Coast.
Businessman Gary Lane's Herne Bay property Waimanu shot up in value from $23m to $31m, copping $55,200 rates. The 44229sq m estate and its tropical gardens have a colourful history. It was once owned by Scottish millionaire David Murray, owner of the Rangers Football Club in Glasgow, who used to rent it to Rod Stewart and Rachel Hunter when they visited New Zealand with their children. It was later sold to the Sultan of Brunei as part of a portfolio of property in Auckland which Lane bought for $35m in 2005.
In a city where annual rates bills sometimes equal the median wage, we look at some of the most expensive homes in blue-ribbon suburbs.
Where: Ōrākei
Owned by: Stone Shi of Oravida NZ
Valuation: $58m
This sprawling modernist multi-level home's value rose from $46m to $58m. It was built by Hanover's Mark Hotchin and set a national house-sale price record when in 2013 it sold for $39m. Rates for the 4322sq m property, which includes seven bedrooms, a swimming pool and underground parking for at least 10 cars, are now an eye-watering $103,000 annually.
What: Government House
Where: Epsom
Owned by: The Government
Valuation: $22m
It's home to Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro, but fortunately the Government stumps up for the $40,200 annual rates bill, which has dropped from $42,880. The 1.5ha property, a home set in beautiful grounds, rose in value from $19m to $22m. Sir Frank and Lady Mappin bought the property in 1921 and spent the next 45 years developing and landscaping the grounds. They gifted it to the Queen in 1962 as a royal or vice-regal residence.
Where: Herne Bay
Owned by: Property investor Ben Cook
Valuation: $34m
Built by endoscopic surgeon John Dunn and wife Rose and later sold to Cook, the property rose in value from $25m to $34m. Cook will be paying $60,460 in rates for the half-hectare property which comes with helicopter landing rights.
Where: Herne Bay
Owned by: Simon and Paula Herbert
Valuation: $30m
The Herberts paid around $27m for their property in 2018, at a time when its valuation was only $22.5m. But with a new valuation of $30m, they have more than recovered the purchase price. The Brent Hulena-designed home has its own boat shed, helicopter pad, beach access and a pool. They'll be paying $53,500 in rates.
Where: Ōrākei
Owned by: Gilda Kirkpatrick
Valuation: $20.5m
Auckland socialite and Real Housewives of Auckland star Gilda Kirkpatrick will have to stump up $36,782 in rates each year for her Whitehouse-style home overlooking the Waitematā Harbour. Kirkpatrick and her then-husband Jimmy bought the concrete home in 2004 for $9.15m and later did extensive renovations.
The shark had washed up dead on the shore earlier this week.