About your rates 2022/23

The proposed average rates increase across the district is 6%.

This is an average, and for individual ratepayers the actual change may be smaller or greater, depending on your location and the services provided.

This 6% average increase is slightly higher than the 4.9% average that we forecast in the Long-term Plan last year – but is in line with the current levels of inflation in New Zealand.

It is also within the 6% limit set by the Council in its financial strategy.

When we prepared our LTP, inflation was still at low levels in New Zealand. In the past 12 months the Council – just like every other business and household – has faced significant increases in costs, as shown in the latest inflation indexes:

• Consumer Price Index 5.9% year to December 2021
• Producer Price Index (eg construction costs) 8.6% year to December 2021

Other significant cost pressures include:

• increased fuel costs
• supply chain delays and cost increases
• impacts of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on fuel prices · tight labour market.

These increased costs mean that we have to increase both operating expenditure (day to day service costs) and capital expenditure (cost of infrastructure and facilities) just to maintain our current levels of service.

The district’s continuing growth also puts pressure on our operations, and we are boosting our resources in areas like building and resource consents, cybersecurity, digital technology and infrastructure support, to meet the demands of a larger population.

Revaluation

Individual changes in rates have also been affected by the district revaluation recently completed. An increase in the capital value (CV) of your property doesn’t mean your rates will increase by the same amount.

For most residential properties in Selwyn, only around a quarter of your rates bill is based on the capital value of a property, with the majority of the rates set based on a fixed amount per property.

If your capital value has increased by more than the average increase (33.7%) you can expect a slightly higher than average increase in your rates from 1 July 2022. If your property value increase was less than the average, you can expect a slightly lower than average increase in your rates.

Across most of Selwyn, many rural property owners will see a reduction in rates this year while our urban home owners have an increase. This is because urban property values generally grew faster than rural properties over the past three years.

Find out more about revaluation at www.selwyn.govt.nz/services/rates/rating-valuations.

Rating examples

The tables in the Consultation Document on page 13 show examples of the proposed rates changes for a sample of typical properties in a range of locations across the district. For each example we show the current capital value, the new capital value following revaluation (applies from 1 July 2022), the current year’s (2021/22) rates, the proposed rates for next year (2022/23) and the amount of the increase both as a percentage and in dollars.