Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua Lakes Council owed more than $5m in unpaid rates

Zizi Sparks
By Zizi Sparks
Multimedia journalist·Rotorua Daily Post·
23 Jul, 2018 06:00 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Rotorua ratepayers owe Rotorua Lakes Council a total of $5.167 million in unpaid rates.

Rotorua ratepayers owe Rotorua Lakes Council a total of $5.167 million in unpaid rates.

Rotorua Lakes Council is owed millions of dollars in unpaid rates.

Information released to the Rotorua Daily Post under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act showed that for the rating year ending June 30, 2018 there was a total of $2,410,142 owing in unpaid rates and to date, there is $5,167,878 outstanding.

As of July 5, there were 2267 properties in rates arrears but the council said this was constantly changing.

"With rates constantly being repaid and new instalments due, this figure varies."

Of the properties in rates arrears, the most owed on a single property was a little more than $94,000. This dated back to July 2012.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

When rates were overdue the council attempted to contact the ratepayer to arrange payments.

"Failing this the rates team progressively work through other options such as mortgagee demand or engaging a debt collection company," the response said.

"If nothing can be achieved going through the above processes the final option is to go through court proceedings for a rating sale."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

The council could not say how many owners it had taken action against as repayments were constantly being made.

How rates are spent. Photo/Rotorua Lakes Council
How rates are spent. Photo/Rotorua Lakes Council

These figures come about a month after the council set the rates for the 2018/2019 year stating the average increase would be 5.7 per cent.

But in a post on the Rotorua Daily Post Facebook page some residents have reported larger increases.

Commenters said their rates had gone up by between 10 and 14 per cent.

Discover more

Valve replacement to cause water shutdown

23 Jul 09:12 PM

"Gone up about 11 per cent for us. But our house value has gone up," one resident said.

The rates at tenant Zahide Aydin's rental property had risen 14.6 per cent and she was worried how the rates increases would trickle down to tenants.

"The rent price for the tenants will change.

"How will it be possible to pay the rent? It goes up but where will the money come from?

"My income doesn't change."

The council's chief financial officer Thomas Collé said the council was conscious of affordability and tried to spread the rates increase as evenly as possible. However, it was difficult to compare rates in Rotorua with those in other cities.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"You have to compare like with like, medians with medians. A $1 million home in Auckland is mid-value there, whereas a $1m home in Rotorua is high range," he said.

"If you make a comparison that way, Rotorua is middle of the pack in terms of its rates increase."

Collé said there were also differences in how councils charged for services. Some did not include water supply charges in their rates, charging separately for those.

Revaluations coming into effect in Rotorua this year also affected rates, he said.

Properties which had a significant increase in capital value would generally face a bigger rates increase than one with a lesser increase, he said.

"There is an average rates increase but many properties will be on either side of that.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"The majority of increases fall close to the average but there are always outliers and some properties will have a decrease in rates."

Unpaid rates for rating years ending June 30
- 2018: $2,410,142
- 2017: $2,251,961
- 2016: $2,363,065
- 2015: $2,449,299
- 2014: $2,376,171
- 2013: $2,684,569

What rates cover
- Sewerage and sewage: 15 per cent
- Sport, recreation and environment: 15 per cent
- Arts and culture: 13 per cent
- Roading and footpaths: 11 per cent
- District development: 10 per cent
- Water supplies: 10 per cent
- Community leadership: 9 per cent
- Waste management: 8 per cent
- Stormwater and drainage: 6 per cent
- Planning and regulatory: 3 per cent
Source rotorualakescouncil.nz

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua Daily Post

Mixed verdicts delivered for Tribesmen accused of murdering one of their own

11 Jul 05:00 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

Pair deny charges over death of Paige Johnson in alleged hit-and-run

11 Jul 12:26 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

Home-schooled students ride 755km to Parliament for equal sports access

10 Jul 11:07 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Mixed verdicts delivered for Tribesmen accused of murdering one of their own

Mixed verdicts delivered for Tribesmen accused of murdering one of their own

11 Jul 05:00 AM

Mark 'Shark' Hohua died in June 2022 after a violent assault over money.

Pair deny charges over death of Paige Johnson in alleged hit-and-run

Pair deny charges over death of Paige Johnson in alleged hit-and-run

11 Jul 12:26 AM
Home-schooled students ride 755km to Parliament for equal sports access

Home-schooled students ride 755km to Parliament for equal sports access

10 Jul 11:07 PM
Heavy rain warning issued for Bay of Plenty, up to 140mm expected

Heavy rain warning issued for Bay of Plenty, up to 140mm expected

10 Jul 10:57 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP