Your Rates Explained
How you can have your say
Council publishes the proposed rates charges for the coming year in Council's draft Long Term Plan or draft Annual Plan. The draft plan opens for submissions in March/April of each year and copies are available to the public from Council offices or our website - please read this summary and/or the complete draft plan as this is your chance to have input before the draft plan is finalised and the rates are set.
These documents are available on our website under Council Publications.
Types of rates and what rates pay for
Rates are assessed under the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002 on all rateable rating units in the Rating Information Database. Generally each Certificate of Title is classified as a rating unit (with certain exceptions allowed in the Rating Act).
Where rates are set on value, the land value of the property will apply (except for the District Promotion targeted rate which is calculated on capital value).
Grey District Council rates are set on a number of factors, including land value, rating units, separate parts of rating units, connections to Council services and capital value. Rates are made up of two types: general rates and targeted rates. Your rates bill will include some or all of the following.
1. General rate calculated by a Uniform Annual General Charge (UAGC)
The UAGC is charged at one full charge per rating assessment and is set by Council to fund the following activities:
- Democracy - 33.0%
- Swimming Pools & Sports Stadium - 34.9%
- Libraries - 19.0%
- Stormwater - 3.4%
- Civil Defence & Emergency Management - 3.8%
- Consultation & Other - 2.7%
- Aerodrome - 1.5% (also funded via general rate)
- LIMS & Official Information - 1.0%
- Building Control - 0.7% (also funded via general rate)
2.General rate calculated on a differential basis using the land value of the property
Each rateable property pays general rates based on the land value of the property. The general rate will be set on a differential basis based on land use as described in the following table.
| RATING DIFFERENTIALS | |
|---|---|
| Residential | All properties in the District less than 4,000 square metres and used primarily for residential purposes, split into the following zones:Residential Zone ONE (refer below) Residential Zone TWO (refer below) Residential Zone THREE (refer below) |
| Rural Residential | All properties in the District greater than or equal to 4,000 square metres (0.4HA) and less than 50,000 square metres (5.0HA) and used primarily for residential purposes. |
| Rural | All properties in the District greater than or equal to 50,000 square metres (5HA) and used primarily for residential purposes. |
| Farming Forestry | All properties in the District used primarily for farming and/or forestry purposes. |
| Commercial | All properties in the District used primarily for commercial and/or industrial purposes and split into the following zones:Commercial Zone ONE (refer below) Commercial Zone TWO (refer below) Commercial Zone THREE (refer below) |
- Zone ONE - Extends Runanga Dunollie in the North, Paroa in the South, Boddytown and Kaiata in the East.
- Zone TWO - Outside of Zone One and Rapahoe in the North, Camerons area in the South, and Blackball/Redjacks areas in the east.
- Zone THREE - Outside of Zones One and Two.
| ACTIVITIES FUNDED BY GENERAL RATES | |
|---|---|
| Community Services | To fund activities such as rest rooms & public conveniences, events & recreation management, Council's in-house task force, cemeteries, heritage, economic development & marketing, Greymouth airport, parks & reserves and parking |
| Environmental Services | To fund activities such as amenity management, building control, animal control, health regulation, district planning operations and policy |
| Refuse Landfill | To fund expenditure on the Mcleans Landfill & Recycling Centre |
| Roading | To fund expenditure on district roads and footpaths |
| Stormwater | To fund expenditure on Council stormwater infrastructure |
| Flood Protection | To fund flood protection related expenditure that Council is responsible for |
3. Targeted rates
Council sets targeted rates for the following services and activities:
- Sewerage
- Water Supply
- Kerbside Refuse and Recycling Collection
- Refuse Collection
- Economic Development
- Metered Water
IMPORTANT: The rating differential and land use are the current uses of the rating unit, and not necessarily the District Plan zoning of the property. For enquiries about the zoning of a particular property, please contact the Planning Department, phone 03 769 8607 or email planning@greydc.govt.nz.
