KEY POINTS:
Far North district ratepayers will be keeping an anxious eye on their council as it moves to set new rates later this year.
Property revaluations have shown huge land value rises in parts of the district, which could lead to large rates rises.
Quotable Value, which evaluates land values every three years, has released figures showing increases in average residential property values of up to 450 per cent in places like Kohukohu, on the Hokianga Harbour.
A $25,000 land value there has shot up to $145,000.
In Rawene, south Hokianga, the average residential land value has rocketed from $32,000 to around $140,000, an increase of 341 per cent.
Far North District Council revenue and policy manager Chris Ellington said the increase could be partly attributed to a change in the way properties' values are assessed.
The Valuer General has said properties, especially smaller rural lots, should be valued according to their best use.
That meant many rural residences were now valued as lifestyle, or including potential for development, Mr Ellington said.
He said if rates were struck according to capital value, rather than land value, the impact of the latest increases would be less dramatic.
However, in the more expensive eastern coastal parts of the district, the revaluation increases are dramatically lower this time.
Kerikeri-Paihia property owners, who typically pay $2000 to $2200 in rates, are in for a valuation rise of 61 per cent, compared with a district-wide median increase of 135 per cent.
"Put simply, this means it's catch-up time for the Far North's traditionally slower-growing communities," Mr Ellington says.
"The balance has shifted, with the result that rates will rise for most ratepayers in these communities, while some property owners in and around the Bay of Islands can expect to pay less in rates next year."
He said the east coast had shown the biggest valuation increases over the last 15 years.
"It's now rebalancing from an overpriced east coast to an underpriced west coast."
Mr Ellington emphasised, however, that the amount of rate increases or decreases to come as a result of the latest revaluations cannot be calculated at present, because rates have not yet been set for the coming financial year.
Proposed draft rates for the 2007-08 year, based on the new valuations, will be known in March, when the council produces its draft annual plan.
The plan will be open to public submissions, which could affect the proposed new level of rating, before the council finally strikes its rate in June.
Mr Ellington said while Quotable Value's median valuation increase across the district was 135 per cent, the median was a middle point in a range of values.
He said the actual average land value increase was 107 per cent.
This meant average valuation increases in the northern Far North were 146 per cent, in Whangaroa 138 per cent, in Kerikeri-Paihia 75 per cent, in Kawakawa-Russell 83 per cent, in Kaikohe 130 per cent and in Hokianga 167 per cent.
PAYING UP
Average annual rate bills now:
* Kaikohe $1400
* Rawene $1500
* Kerikeri-Paihia $2100
* Russell $2800
