New rateable valuations for Horowhenua properties are now available to view.

In New Zealand, councils are funded by a form of property taxation known as rates. At least once every three years every district and city is re-assessed to set the values on which council rates are based for the following three years.

Horowhenua District’s revaluation has been undertaken and property owners will start to receive their valuation notices in the post from 11 November. The new values will be used by Horowhenua District Council to determine rating from 1 July 2020.

Horowhenua District Council’s Chief Financial Officer Doug Law said often revaluations cause anxiety for property owners as they are worried it will increase their rates.

“People often think that an increase or decrease in valuation will automatically result in an increase or decrease in rates. Many people also think that an increase in the district’s values will mean that the Council gets more money. These are misconceptions,” he said.

“How it works is that Council decides through its planning processes how much money it needs to undertake the projects, services and other activities that it will provide for the next 12 months. Having worked out that total, it then calculates the proposed rates by dividing the district’s Land Value into the total dollars that it needs.

“The rating valuation provides the means to share the cost of the rates across the district according to a set of property values that are provided for every property on a common date, 1 August 2019. This means that every property is valued on the same basis and at the same time.”

Mr Law said the rateable value of a property will not change for the next three years even if the market value increases or decreases during that time.

Property owners who disagree with their valuation can formally object. Details on how to do so will be contained with the notice.

“The reassessment is a desk based assessment, so if owners have made improvements to their property that haven’t required a consent then it may not necessarily have been picked up” Mr Law said.

ENDS

© Scoop Media