Whopping 87pc rise isn't fair, says resident

Rachael Hellowell found she had missed the cut-off date for objecting to her rates demand. Picture / Glenn Jeffrey

Hillsborough resident Rachael Hellowell is questioning how her rates bill has jumped a whopping 87 per cent.

"Auckland City Council has based my new rates bill on the market rental value of my run-down, old house," the 35-year-old information technology worker said yesterday.

"According to them my house could be rented out for $720 a week, which is ridiculous ... and they've based my rates on that figure."

She said the average rental value for a three-bedroom house in Hillsborough was probably about $380.

Ms Hellowell bought hers, in Hendry Ave, in 2001 for $227,000 and it is now worth $450,000.

"My rates have gone up from $854 last year to $1597 this year.

"I will really notice the increase because I basically live from pay cheque to pay cheque. It's not justified at all.

"My income hasn't gone up at all. If I hadn't bought this house when I did, there's no way I could afford to buy it now."

And she is not impressed with Auckland City Mayor Dick Hubbard's full-page advertisement in yesterday's Herald, in which he made an impassioned plea in favour of rates increases.

"That advertisement should be rolled up and used for toilet paper," Ms Hellowell said.

She called the Auckland City Council's helpdesk to lodge an objection to her rates demand, but found she had missed the cut-off date.

"I didn't notice it at the time, and later when I looked closely at how they calculated my rates I couldn't believe it.

"You trust that they would get it right, but a lot of people probably wouldn't check."

Ms Hellowell said the rating system was not fair.

"They either work it out from the capital value of your house, or the market rental value and then they pick the higher one."

An Auckland City Council spokeswoman said yesterday that the Ratings Valuation Act 1998 defined how rates were worked out.

"It's not up to me to comment on whether it's fair."