{"id":414984,"date":"2026-05-06T18:57:06","date_gmt":"2026-05-06T18:57:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/414984\/"},"modified":"2026-05-06T18:57:06","modified_gmt":"2026-05-06T18:57:06","slug":"northland-ratepayer-feels-forced-off-land-by-rising-costs-as-regions-rates-to-top-370m","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/414984\/","title":{"rendered":"Northland ratepayer feels forced off land by rising costs as region\u2019s rates to top $370m"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cI am already paying $97 a week in rates. I think of it in weekly amounts because I have to,\u201d Olliver said.<\/p>\n

She said she is worried about Far North District Council\u2019s proposed 6.7% rates rise, and the council\u2019s rebating system means a two-year wait for any return entitlement.<\/p>\n

Olliver \u201cdabbles\u201d in retail, selling new and used clothing and bric-a-brac from a small Kawakawa shop but said she makes little money. <\/p>\n

She said she can barely make ends meet, despite income from a flat rental on her property, a boarder in the sleepout next to her house and money from her pension used for rates, insurance, power and mortgage payments.<\/p>\n

Far North District Council\u2019s group manager corporate services Charlie Billington did not comment on Olliver\u2019s situation.<\/p>\n

He said feedback on the council\u2019s 2026\/2027 Annual Plan was open until May 17.<\/p>\n

Olliver believed the council amalgamations pushed for by the Government<\/a> may serve the Far North well, as it could offer the district a larger ratepayer base to cover unique costs.<\/p>\n

She is one of about 100,000 Northland ratepayers facing higher rates in 2026\/2027.<\/p>\n

The Far North, Kaipara and Whang\u0101rei district councils have proposed rates increases of between 5% and 10.1%.<\/p>\n

Northland Regional Council proposed a rates freeze despite originally budgeting on a 4.04% increase in long-term planning.<\/p>\n

The 2026\/2027 rates are expected to provide Far North District Council with $76.455m, Kaipara $38.896m, Whang\u0101rei $129m and the regional council with $130m.<\/p>\n

Whang\u0101rei Mayor Ken Couper said about two-thirds of people who made submissions on his council\u2019s Annual Plan supported a flat 5% rates increase, one of three options put forward.<\/p>\n

About a quarter favoured the 10.1% option.<\/p>\n

The balance supported a third option, also set at 5% but adjusted so businesses would pay a slightly smaller share of the overall rates than residential ratepayers, or in some cases, have no increase.<\/p>\n

Couper said Whang\u0101rei District Council\u2019s budget would be finalised on May 24.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs usual, the requests for increased levels of services are greater than the fiscal envelope available,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Whang\u0101reiWhang\u0101rei ratepayer Andrew Booth with some of the new calves on his predominantly autumn-calving Mangakahia farm. Photo \/ Susan Botting <\/p>\n

Mangakahia dairy farmer Andrew Booth, 39, said he preferred a lower increase, opting for the 5% option.<\/p>\n

Couper previously warned halving the proposed increase would create a multimillion-dollar budget shortfall that would need to be addressed through a mix of cost savings, reduced services or increased debt.<\/p>\n

Booth and his wife Vicky Booth farm the family property beside the Mangakahia River in T\u012btoki, about 70km upstream from the Kaipara Harbour.<\/p>\n

He said he was not in favour of filling the gap through borrowing, which would increase council interest costs.<\/p>\n

Booth urged the council to spend rates only on what was necessary and within its core responsibilities.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat ratepayers need might be different from what they want,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Booth described rates as \u201ca necessary evil\u201d if communities expected council services. He welcomed he regional council\u2019s proposed rates freeze.<\/p>\n

The Government has signalled Northland Regional Council will disappear by 2028<\/a> under its local government restructuring.<\/p>\n

Booth said amalgamating Whang\u0101rei District Council and the regional council could bring benefits where services were duplicated but warned any merger needed careful handling. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf they can do it right, yes, but if things fall through the cracks, then I\u2019m not so sure,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"KaiparaKaipara ratepayer, Dargaville’s Elizabeth Card. Photo \/ Susan Botting <\/p>\n

Kaipara ratepayer Elizabeth Card, 81, viewing her district council\u2019s proposed 7.9% rates rise \u2013 after growth \u2013 with a degree of resignation.<\/p>\n

Card said there was little ratepayers could do beyond \u201cgrizzle and carry on\u201d.<\/p>\n

The Dargaville retiree, who moved north from Auckland to be with family, has paid rates for 56 years and said she was concerned for people on fixed incomes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of people in Kaipara struggling to make ends meet.\u201d<\/p>\n

Card believed public consultation or more information about the council\u2019s rates rise would have been better. <\/p>\n

Kaipara District Council said the council had not publicly consulted on its coming year\u2019s Annual Plan because it reflected decisions already made through its long-term plan.<\/p>\n

Public consultation on the proposed fees and charges for the coming year closed on Monday. <\/p>\n

\u25a0 LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cI am already paying $97 a week in rates. I think of it in weekly amounts because I…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":414985,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[213413,213414,806,3595,5343,24004,802,103332,5346,35964,1644,679,23546,21325,16571,19720,1132,111,43,139,1067,11225,69,6662,1653,24686,7676,6695,801,312,61,3010,379,1530],"class_list":["post-414984","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-370m","tag-213414","tag-as","tag-by","tag-climb","tag-coming","tag-costs","tag-cumulative","tag-expected","tag-feels","tag-financial","tag-forced","tag-forcing","tag-increases","tag-kerikeri","tag-land","tag-million","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-northland","tag-northlanders","tag-nz","tag-off","tag-payments","tag-ratepayer","tag-rates","tag-regions","tag-rising","tag-says","tag-to","tag-top","tag-year","tag-years"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414984","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=414984"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/414984\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/414985"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=414984"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=414984"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=414984"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}