Source: Auckland Council
Rates are an essential part of the funding that allows Auckland Council to maintain a vibrant and sustainable Tāmaki Makaurau. It’s how we fund the services and facilities that matter and helps creates a city where all Aucklanders can thrive.
Rates support vital services like waste management, maintaining community buildings and playgrounds, emergency management, as well as public transport, pools, public art, and libraries.
Auckland Council is an $8-billion enterprise, managing its finances to ensure essential services and infrastructure are provided for the ongoing wellbeing of our community.
Council’s financial decisions balance the needs of today with the demands of the future.
Just like a household budget, Council budgets are how we allocate where the money that comes in gets spent. Rates and other fees and charges are like household income on a large scale, providing the necessary funds for maintaining and improving the region.
The Annual Budget 2023/2024 includes an overall rate increase of 7.7% for the average-value residential property and an average general rates increase of 11 per cent (or $4.87 a week).
What is the purpose of rates?
Rates are property owners’ contributions to a shared investment in our community’s well-being. Rates help maintain and enhance the infrastructure, parks, facilities and services that make Tāmaki Makaurau a great place to live.
Council’s assets such as parks, roads, libraries, community centres, and other public facilities provide value to the community and enhance our quality of life.
Auckland Council acts as a responsible steward of community assets, ensuring they are well-maintained and utilised efficiently. Just as you take care of your home and its value, council manages assets to preserve their long-term worth for the benefit of the community.
We’re continuing to support the region’s long-term future by investing a record $3.2 billion in new assets or replacing old ones in the 2023/2024 financial year. Libraries, pools, leisure centres, community buildings and many other the services loved and well-used by Aucklanders are maintained and run by rates funding.
It also includes work on some of the most complex projects ever undertaken in New Zealand, like the City Rail Link and Central Interceptor for wastewater, and continuing to invest in sports fields, urban regeneration, new parks and open spaces, local facility upgrades and better public transport.
Rates are how we share, between property owners, a portion of the cost of services the council provides across the region.
Aucklanders share access to all the services the council provides across Tāmaki Makaurau. Rates are not calculated by individual service, nor are they a fee for service. They fund all council activities not fully funded by other funding sources like fees and charges or central government funding.
Individual ratepayers might not use every council asset or service either by choice or other circumstances. However, the principle is that they are made available across the region and create an Auckland we can be proud of.
How do Auckland Council’s rates compare to other cities?
Many other councils generate between 60 and 74 per cent of their income from rates; for us that figure is around 40 per cent.
However, comparative analysis of council rates should always be treated with caution as service provision and funding policies vary from council to council.
In Auckland, water supply and wastewater services are provided separately and invoiced by Watercare Services Limited (WSL). Other councils recover the cost of these services through rates.
Another example is that one council may fund rubbish collection from rates whereas a different council may fund it from the sale of rubbish bags.
One council may have a significant investment in tourist attraction whereas another council may only provide a minimum service.
Auckland Council rates also cover the services previously delivered by the former Auckland Regional Council, whereas non-unitary councils do not include the rates for regional council services.
How can I have my say on how rates are spent?
We ask for Aucklanders’ feedback on the proposed spending for the region and for their local board areas through our Annual Budget and 10-year Budget processes.
More than 40,000 Aucklanders gave their feedback on Auckland Council’s proposed Annual Budget 2023/2024, the most feedback received for any public consultation by the council.
So, how does Auckland Council spend your rates?
For any given year council prepares an Annual Report where you can see exactly where the money was spent as well as the services provided for that.
Rates support services we all think of like waste management, libraries, public transport, parks, and community facilities.
However, it is so much more than that – rates are your contribution to creating a city that all Aucklanders can thrive in and be proud of.
