Wellington ratepayers face potential 16.4% increase

Wednesday, 6 March 2024

Wellingtonians are facing a potential 16.4% rates increase, up a percentage point from council’s meeting last month.

Wellington City Councillors will next week approve the draft 2024-34 Long-term Plan (LTP) consultation document before it goes out for community consultation in April ‒ it includes a proposed rates increase for the 2024/2025 year of 16.4%.

However, it does not include the Moa Point Sludge Minimisation Facility levy which will add a further 1.6%.

At the previous Long-term Plan, Finance and Performance committee meeting on February 15, a rates increase of 15.4% was budgeted including a proposal to look at congestion charges and increase parking fees as the council looked to find spare cash.

Additional changes made to funding in the meeting to levels of services equated to an increase in proposed rates of about 0.9%, while things like interest had further increased proposed rates by about 0.1%.

Councillors voted not to approve or to amend a number of these proposals.

Mayor Tory Whanau said the proposed LTP included “record investment” in water and the city.

“One in every four dollars we spend on capital will go on three waters,” she said. “We are also rolling out a full cycleway network and bus improvements ahead of time and under cost, saving $80m while doing so.”

Whanau said political pressure had kept rates lower than what was required to fund and maintain infrastructure and assets for decades.

She pointed to Local Government New Zealand research showing councils’ share of overall tax revenue had remained at 2% of GDP for the last 50 years.

“Councils around the country are now grappling with this, alongside increased inflation, insurance costs and interest rates. The pressure has reached a tipping point.”

The proposed rates increase was necessary to fund the services and infrastructure Wellington needed “to be a thriving city”, Whanau said, adding the increase was in line with other councils around the country.

The Long-Term Plan will go out for consultation in April and May, with public hearings ahead of its adoption at the end of June.

More information, including the draft consultation document, is available here.