Rates Remission For Four Kawerau Groups

Wednesday, 3 July 2024, 7:20 pm
Article: Diane McCarthy - Local Democracy Reporter

Sports, recreation and community organisations leasing land from Kawerau District Council will now be able to receive a rates remission due to a new policy adopted on Wednesday.

The policy provides a 100 percent remission on general rates, to four groups that currently qualify.

Organisations will still have to pay charges for services such as refuse collection and water.

An exception to the policy is for organisatons holding a liquor license, who will not be able to receive a remission for the licensed area. These groups will still be able to claim remissions for areas not covered by their licence, such as sports fields.

The new policy brings the council into line with Whakatāne and Ōpōtiki district councils which also have these policies.

Kawerau currently has five remissions policies, covering high-value properties, farm properties, developments, penalties and Māori freehold land.

The rates remission policy for high value residential properties was also updated at Wednesday’s meeting, although Mayor Faylene Tunui suggesting reviewing whether the policy was achieving its objective as part of next year’s long-term planning as no properties currently qualify for the remission.

The remission policy, which sets a cap on residential rates, was introduced in 2005 so that disproportionately high rates did not act as a disincentive for people to make improvements to existing homes. However, so far, no properties in the district have achieved the value of the cap that is set.

The cap was orignally set at $2000 and is raised each year based on the total rates increase. This year this has seen the cap rise to $5500. To reach this cap, a property would need to have a capital value of $980,290 or higher.

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