The country’s 11 regional council’s increased rates on average 16.20% this year, the third successive year of double-digit increases.
Analysis of the regional councils by Farmers Weekly (from which the six unitary authorities were excluded) reveals that for the 2024-25 year rate rises ranged from 27% on the West Coast and 20.55% at Greater Wellington to 7.4% at Waikato, the only council to have a single digit increase.
This follows average increases across all councils of 12.4% in 2023-24 and 11.5% in 2022-23. In 2019-20 the average increase was 6.7%.
That year just Otago (13.8%) and Bay of Plenty (12.5%) had double-digit rate rises.
According to analysis by the Taxpayers’ Union, the average rate rise for 61 city and district councils was 14.18%, led by 21.4% at the Gore District Council, 20% at the Central Hawke’s Bay DC and 19% at Hastings DC.
The increase at Napier City Council was 19.95%, Upper Hutt city rates rose 19.93% and Dunedin city 17.40%
The Farmers Weekly analysis reveals that between 2019-20 and 2024-25, regional councils grew rapidly.
The amount of revenue raised has in many cases doubled and expenses increased more than 50%.
Total staff employed by the councils over that same period have risen by more than 1000, from 3536 full-time equivalent (FTE) to over 4600.
There were significant staff increases at Taranaki, with 78% more, Otago 74%, Hawke’s Bay 54% and Greater Wellington 45%.
Regional councils are paying an average of 35% of their staff $100,000 or more, with the Bay of Plenty at 60% and Greater Wellington at 53% having the greatest percentage of their workforce in that salary bracket.
Councils were asked to disclose the percentage of their income from general and targeted rates and the data reveals that between 2018-19 and 2024-25, both increased.
Averaged over all councils, general rates as a share of council income has increased from 17.4% in 2018-19 to 27.5% in 2024-25, and targeted rates from 16.9% to 17.9%.
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