Wellington set to adopt $12-a-week rates rise as Crown observer’s time comes to end

Tuesday, 24 June 2025

Councillors Nicola Young, Tony Randle and Ray Chung are expected to vote against the Wellington City Council's long-term and annual plans, which include a 12% rates increase.

Wellington City councillors are expected to pass a rates increase this week that will hit the average ratepayer to the tune of $632 a year – with the first bill arriving just as voting gets under way.

Already some councillors are planning to vote on Wednesday against long-term and annual plans, which include a 12% rates rise, but acknowledge it will almost certainly be a losing vote. The rates rise comes into effect on July 1 but direct debits change about a month later, with the September bill the first increased payment for those on quarterly payment plans.

It will mean a new rates bill arriving for many around the same date, September 9, when voting for the next triennium for the Wellington City Council starts. Already the future of Wellington’s rates, on the back of four years of large increases, is shaping up to be the biggest single election issue.

The Wellington City Council could not provide the city’s average residential rates bill. But Wellington’s average rateable value took a 24.4% hit from 2021 valuations to 2024, with OneRoof reporting the new average rateable value was $1.086m. For a comparable house, a $1.04m home in Berhampore, it will mean the annual rates bill jumping from $5269 to $5901.

Wellington City Council Crown observer Lindsay McKenzie has confirmed his time is almost up.

It will see the weekly equivalent jump from $101 to $113, or $632 more over the coming year.

Already, councillors Ray Chung and Tony Randle are planning to vote against both plans due to what they see as unnecessary spending behind the rates increase. Councillor Nicola Young has also signalled she will likely vote against for the same reason.

Chung is running to be mayor on a policy of zero rates rises, which he admits may not be achievable in the 2026-27 year. He confirmed it was unlikely he would have the numbers to derail the two plans.

Councillor Diane Calvert opposed the increase but saw no point in voting against the long-term and annual plans.

The council’s proposed long-term plan – a year-by-year spending and rating blueprint for the coming decade updated every three years – shows a sharp decrease in rates is expected from July in a year’s time, when a net decrease of 26.4% in rates are forecast.

However, council papers show that is when water charges are expected to be paid separately after a new entity takes over running the three waters, meaning the total amount paid by homeowners would amount to an 11.4% increase in the 2026-27 year.

That will be the first chance a new council will be able to vote to affect the rates amount.

Forecast rate rises in the subsequent years of the long-term plan range from 1.2% to 5.9%. However, each of those will have to be voted for by future councils.

Wellington mayor Tory Whanau said the 12% increase was tough but there was help available, such as the council’s rates rebate and rates postponement schemes for those who qualified.

Meanwhile, Lindsay McKenzie, who was appointed by the Government to watch over the Wellington City Council after last year’s long-term plan had to be amended, said this week’s votes – in committee on Wednesday followed by full council on Thursday – were the last major ones before his time ended.

He could not foresee any significant hiccups to passing the two plans and expected to send his final report to Local Government Minister Simon Watts in July before ending before the end of the month. He did not expect any surprises in his final report.