{"id":502655,"date":"2026-06-30T12:01:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T12:01:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/502655\/"},"modified":"2026-06-30T12:01:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T12:01:13","slug":"western-bay-rates-rise-held-below-forecast-but-fears-bigger-hike-could-follow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/502655\/","title":{"rendered":"Western Bay rates rise held below forecast but fears bigger hike could follow"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Scroll down for a breakdown of both city and district rates by property value.)<\/p>\n

Western Bay Mayor James Denyer said in Thursday\u2019s meeting he had \u201clingering concerns\u201d about his district\u2019s rates increase being \u201cmuch lower\u201d than previously expected.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt could lead to a larger increase in rates next year.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the council had been prudent and cautious with its spending, managing to bring some key projects forward.<\/p>\n

Deputy Mayor Margaret Murray-Benge said it had been a difficult annual plan to come through.<\/p>\n

\u201cKnowing rate controls could come in, it\u2019s really important that we continue to be strident in making sure that we give value for money for our ratepayers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\" Western Bay of Plenty District Council Deputy Mayor Margaret Murray-Benge, Katikati-Waih\u012b Beach councillor Rodney Joyce and Kaimai councillor Graeme Elvin. <\/p>\n

Katikati-Waih\u012b Beach councillor Rodney Joyce said one of the areas in which the council had managed to make savings was by having built up \u201dtoo much money\u201d in the solid waste reserve.<\/p>\n

He said the annual plan set out to increase transport spending, which was in response to \u201ca very clear message\u201d from the public.<\/p>\n

Joyce said the council should not take money off people unless it was needed, but added, \u201cWe may have delayed the increase rather than got rid of it\u201d.<\/p>\n

Kaimai councillor Graeme Elvin said the rates may bounce back again next year.<\/p>\n

He acknowledged the idea to keep money in ratepayers\u2019 pockets this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat doesn\u2019t mean to say it\u2019ll stay in your pocket next year if we haven\u2019t got it right.\u201d<\/p>\n

Western Bay of Plenty chief executive Matt Potton told Local Democracy Reporting the increases were largely driven by the rising cost of delivering roading infrastructure to the adopted levels of service.<\/p>\n

\" Western Bay of Plenty District Council chief executive Matt Potton. Photo \/ Kelly O’Hara<\/p>\n

\u201cAll aspects of costs were reviewed to try to manage the increase.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are currently facing additional costs due to the current Iran conflict that impact many parts of the core services [the council provides].\u201d <\/p>\n

He said the council decided not to rate for solid waste services in 2027 as there were sufficient reserves to cover it.<\/p>\n

This represented a reduction in the rates requirement of $900,000.<\/p>\n

He said a decision in deliberations not to rate for the proposed $3.1 million for roading, and to use the reserves available instead, also helped bring the increase down.<\/p>\n

He said the decisions recognised the increased cost of living the community was facing.<\/p>\n

He expected the council\u2019s costs would increase in the coming years, given volatility from the ongoing Iran conflict and its knock-on impact for prices, especially for oil-related products such as bitumen.<\/p>\n

The council would develop its next Long-Term Plan for 2027-37, which would consider all aspects of operations and costs and include community consultation.<\/p>\n

Potton said the council was also keeping a \u201cwatching brief\u201d on the Government\u2019s proposal to introduce a rates cap. <\/p>\n

\u201cAt this stage, there has been limited information on how the cap is to be calculated or the final implementation timeframe, which makes it challenging to determine the future impact.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 2026\/27 rates take effect July 1.<\/p>\n

Rates rise examples by property value (CV)<\/p>\n

Western Bay of Plenty District<\/p>\n

$680,000 \u2013 down 1.6% or $62$910,000 \u2013 down 1.8% or $77$4.21m \u2013 up 14.6% or $1195<\/p>\n

Commercial\/industrial<\/p>\n

$760,000 \u2013 up 9.5% or $513$1.13m \u2013 up 7.4% or $478$3.4m \u2013 up 12.5% or $1156<\/p>\n

Rural<\/p>\n

$1.04m \u2013 up 1.2% or $36$1.48m \u2013 up 4.5% or $127$2.06m \u2013 up 4.2% or $140<\/p>\n

Water<\/p>\n

Water charges will increase 15%, from $1.75 to $2.01 per cubic metre for water used. <\/p>\n

Source: Western Bay of Plenty District Council<\/p>\n

Tauranga City<\/p>\n

Residential<\/p>\n

Average: Up 6.9% or $288<\/p>\n

$450,000 \u2013 up 6.9% or $180$715,000 \u2013 up 6.9% or $231$875,000 \u2013 up 6.9% or $262$890,000 \u2013 up 7.9% or $265$3.47m \u2013 up 7.0 or $762<\/p>\n

Commercial<\/p>\n

Average: Up 6.7% or $1363<\/p>\n

$122,000 \u2013 up 7.3% or $200$660,000 \u2013 up 6.9% or $437$1,120,000 \u2013 up 6.8% or $640$2,570,000 \u2013 up 6.7% or $1280$24.292m \u2013 up 6.6% or $10,870<\/p>\n

Industrial<\/p>\n

Average: Up 6.3% or $3182<\/p>\n

$250,000 \u2013 up 6.9% or $270$1.49m \u2013 up 6.5% or $886$2.42m \u2013 up 6.4% or $1348$4.9475m \u2013 up 6.4% or $2603$50.6125m \u2013 up 6.3% or $25,288<\/p>\n

Water<\/p>\n

Water charges will increase 7.5% or by $0.29 per cubic metre used.<\/p>\n

Source: Tauranga City Council<\/p>\n

\u2013 LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.<\/p>\n

Ayla Yeoman<\/a> is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based in Tauranga. She holds a Bachelor of Arts majoring in communications, politics and international relations from the University of Auckland, and has been a journalist since 2022.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(Scroll down for a breakdown of both city and district rates by property value.) Western Bay Mayor James…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":502656,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1561,13990,41216,3013,24004,10709,24747,124,26519,7557,28164,9189,5616,14236,24826,5345,29391,111,43,139,1536,69,1562,7676,5034,1436,78456,544,3457,379],"class_list":["post-502655","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-bay","tag-below","tag-bigger","tag-but","tag-coming","tag-concerns","tag-costofliving","tag-could","tag-councillors","tag-district","tag-fears","tag-follow","tag-forecast","tag-held","tag-hike","tag-increase","tag-mean","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-next","tag-nz","tag-plenty","tag-rates","tag-response","tag-rise","tag-slashed","tag-some","tag-western","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502655","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=502655"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502655\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/502656"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=502655"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=502655"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=502655"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}