Residetial percentage distribution between $150k and $2.5m
Over the last couple of days there have been some questions about the actual rates percentage increases. One said they were at 25.1%, another at 21.4% and some at 18%. This started us thinking..
Many of the questions are around the actual increase in Upper Hutt Rates being above the 19.93% which the council has indicated.
From this we created a calculator for people to see what their rates would be between 23/24 Rates vs 24/25 Rates.
We have now also created a chart showing the percentage distribution for residential houses in Upper Hutt.. Attached Chart.. (We are working on the Rural Distribution also... )
Confusingly, this shows that those with lower CV's have higher percentage increases in Rates than those with CV's between $920k and $1.2m.
They also do have it is dependant on area etc...But why are those in lower value CV's being hit harder than those with Higher CV's you would think land value would be classed as higher.
This sample of CV's gives an average rates increase of 24.52%, not 19.93%. Just remember, non accountants here and happy to be corrected if need be 😊
We have just gone through the Consultation document now and checked the wording......we believe the wording says its a 19.93% increase not a range. Although the LTP adoption article states an average but yet isn't this changing the rules of engagement with no mention of average in the Consultation Document? So we may legally have a leg to stand on by withholding the above % over this number.... We are not suggesting anyone does this but it may be an option which is taken after some legal advice.. It may not be much but could be at least something?
In their LTP Consultation Doc their charts (pg43) are not even correct as the examples are not a 19.93%.....and the CEO said in the news there were no more mistakes in the document. https://www.nzempowered.com/post/2024-long-term-plan-mistakes
So the question has to be WHY????????
Members on the Upper Hutt Be Empowered facebook group have suggested that it has to do with the pan and water charges which are fixed charges and don't change with the CV's. So we took the Pan and Water Charges out as suggested, and this is the graph we get..
It indicates 10.29% across the board for up to $1.2m and 20.82% for those over $1.2m.
Helps a little but still very confusing for people who are told their rates are going up 19.93%..
Still very confusing and in the words of Chris Carson "This information doesn't gel" LOL.
Really apprecaite all the input and ideas we have received from the group.
Community Comments
Council have misled us about the rates percentage increases. Their LTP documents amount to misleading advertising. If a business did this you would have the Commerce Commission investigating. It feels like if you have a lower RV they are not letting you get off with lower rates than someone with a higher RV. Council are milking these new RVs for all they are worth and hitting the lower valued properties for council gain.
Rowena Simpkiss - Upper Hutt
My RV is $485000, my rates increase overall is 23.75%. It stinks.
Elaine Chaney
A member of the Public stated :
The key thing is the LTP said an average of 19.87% and from using your calculator and the average house price as of 1 July 2022 that is what has happened...the key word is average...
Our Response to this
Yes, however, when the reason behind this and understanding is so unclear it is concerning....If it was easy we would expect everyone to be jumping in with "Duh lol". But they are not. What ever the outcome it should not take this about of confusion to understand why rates % have gone from 5.81% in 2023 to over 19.93% and anywhere up to 30% for some if our graphs is correct.
I would have to say it was very misleading, as from what we can tell the "average" does not appear in the consultation doc until it talks about the 10 year average. The one you have provided was AFTER the UHCC had adopted the plan. Sort of like buying something then getting the terms and conditions after..
Hellen Swales, even told us in an email that "We have many of us councilor's have already identified that there is some confusion and inconsistencies in the responses" to the LTP consultation https://1drv.ms/u/s!AiRvWJcR8iJci84mtqlvfdWNdP5mxQ?e=JJF8E9
Also there were many times where many members of the public asked the council how this all worked and why the rates were increasing so much.. The best we seemed to get was the "Landscape had Changed", and "Increasing Costs". We found a document just the other day which showed some insight into the why question which was produced in March..
Unsure why the council did not provide this or something like this to help the community understand, especially since they would have provided data for it we are sure.
What was even more disturbing was the CEO, Mayor and Deputy were also confused and could and didn't ever explain the why..
Only explanation we personally got was "the landscape has changed" and Helen Swales stock std question at the Oral submissions "Where did they see the rates % sitting"
Ultimately, the consultation doc only has average over the 10 years, not that the 19.93% is an average over the houses and that lower CV's would be hit hard. The council still does not explain why people have different % range especially with those that have lower CV.
Bit of a hard pill to swallow when there seems no real explanation by the Council.
Glad we can all have a discussion about why as the council doesn't want to engage in that, they just tip toe around all those questions..