How rates are decided

How rates are decided

As part of preparing the next Long-term Plan or Annual Plan, we ask for your views about the spending we’re planning and the amount we may need to charge ratepayers. The rates payable in the coming year are decided at the end of this process.

All property owners pay rates, including government departments and Housing New Zealand. You can read about each year’s spending outcomes in our Long-term Plan.

Our rates must meet the requirements of the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002. Non-rateable land and 50% rateable land are defined in Schedule 1 of the Act. 

• Read about the key rating principles and components: Rating Policy and Rates Remission Postponement
• Read about the sources and levels of funding for Porirua City activities: Revenue and Financing Policy (591KB pdf) 
• Learn how our rates are set: Funding Impact Statement (525KB pdf). 
• See our Rates Remission and Postponement Policy (701KB pdf).
• Look at our Frequently asked questions for background on our rates.
• News release - Porirua City confirms Annual Plan

Our independent contractor Quotable Value carries out property valuations for Porirua City every three years.  It works out the value of your property by looking at the selling price of similar properties in the area.  The last revaluation was based on property values as at 1 October 2022. 

• You can use the Property Search to see the final values.
  

If you think of rates as a pie, the size of the pie doesn’t get bigger because of the new valuations. However, a ratepayer’s slice of the pie might get bigger or smaller depending on how their property value has changed in relation to the average change of valuations in the city. The total amount of rates collected stays the same.

• The average rate increase across the city is 9.71% to existing ratepayers. The table below provides a breakdown, by rating type, which shows the effective rate change by both % and $ value of the median capital value of each category. Individual increases will vary based on the capital value of your own property. All amounts expressed include GST calculated on the basis of the prevailing rates at the time of supply.
• On average, 45% of your rates is used to pay for roading, wastewater, stormwater and water supply. The rest of the money goes on providing services like parks, cemeteries, emergency management, libraries, arts and culture, and recreation.
• Fees paid by users also help to fund many other services like building and resource consents, provision of kerbside rubbish bags and venue hire.