Find out how your rates bill has changed this year.

In 2020/2021 the Council set rates to collect $550.8 million (excluding GST).

This year rates rose on average 3.8% for existing ratepayers. A typical ratepayer owning an average size house (with a rating value of $508,608) will pay $58 per week in rates (including GST).

The actual increase in rates for individual properties varies depending on factors such as:

  • a property’s rating value
  • whether it is classed as residential, business, or remote rural.

We also collect rates on behalf of Environment Canterbury(external link), which sets its own rates. They are not included in these figures but will appear on your rates invoice.

The rates for 2020/2021 are shown in the table below. There are 15 separate rates. A ratepayer typically pays some but not all of these. The rules for each rate are set out in the Council's Funding Impact Statement. As an illustration, we have shown the amount that would typically be paid for each rate for an average house with a capital value (CV) of $508,608.

Rate name Rate Units Rate paid for an average house ($, incl GST)
General Rate: Standard 0.298677 cents per $ CV  1,519.10
General Rate: Business 0.506855 cents per $ CV 0 
General Rate: Remote Rural 0.224008 cents per $ CV 0 
Uniform Annual General Charge 132.00  $ per SUIP*  132.00
Water Connected  0.064691 cents per $ CV 329.02 
Water not Connected  0.032346 cents per $ CV 0 
Land Drainage  0.039739 cents per $ CV 202.12 
Sewerage  0.084493 cents per $ CV 429.74 
Waste Minimisation  203.85 $ per SUIP* 203.85 
Waste Minimisation (Part)  152.89 $ per SUIP* 0 
Restricted Water Supply  205.00  $ per SLOS** 0 
Fire Connections  117.00  $ per connection 0 
Active Travel  20.00  $ per SUIP* 20.00 
Heritage (Cathedral)  6.52  $ per SUIP* 6.52 
Akaroa Health Centre  116.38 $ per SUIP* 0 
 Total     2,842.34 

* SUIP: This means a Separately Used or Inhabited Part of a rating unit.

**SLOS: The restricted water supply rate paid for each Standard Level of Service (SLOS) received by a rating unit.

Examples

We show below some examples of how rates vary depending on capital values. Examples are shown for three kinds of property: a standard, business and remote rural property.

Standard

We assume this ratepayer pays the following rates: General Standard, Uniform Annual General Charge, Water Connected, Land Drainage, Sewerage, Waste Minimisation, Active Travel, Heritage (Cathedral).

Capital value $ 2020/2021 rates ($, incl GST)
200,000 1,338
400,000 2,313
500,000 2,800
508,608 (average home) 2,842
600,000 3,288
700,000 3,776
800,000 4,263
1,000,000 5,238
1,500,000 7,676

Business

We assume this ratepayer pays the following rates: General Business, Uniform Annual General Charge, Water Connected, Land Drainage, Sewerage, Waste Minimisation, Active Travel, Heritage (Cathedral).

Capital value $ 2020/2021 rates ($ incl GST)
200,000 1,754
400,000 3,145
600,000 4,537
800,000 5,929
1,000,000 7,320
1,500,000 10,799
1,858,572 (average business) 13,294
2,000,000 14,278
5,000,000 35,151

Remote rural

We assume this ratepayer pays the following rates: General Remote Rural, Uniform Annual General Charge, Land Drainage, Waste Minimisation (Part), Active Travel, Heritage (Cathedral).

Capital value $ 2020/2021 rates ($, incl GST)
200,000 839
400,000 1,366
600,000 1,894
800,000 2,421
1,000,000  2,949
1,039,580 (average farm) 3,053
2,000,000 5,586
3,000,000 8,224