Objection or dispute of rates or valuation

Capital value and land value

Like all local and regional authorities, the Auckland Regional Council uses property valuation as the basis for calculating your rates. The valuations we use are the capital value (CV) and the land value (LV) of your property.

Where do we get our valuations from?

Your local council provides us with CV and LV information for your property. They obtain it from a Valuation Service Provider (VSP). Your council contracts the VSP to provide a general revaluation of your property every three years. Your property may also be re-valued as a result of alterations that require a consent from your local council.

How do you object to your valuations?

After a general revaluation has taken place in your local council area, you are notified of the new CV and LV for your property. You are also given an opportunity at this time to object to the valuations. There is a limitation on how long you have to object, which is set by your local council. However, under the Rating Valuations Act 1998, you must be allowed at least 30 working days to object to the valuations. Your local council may accept objections to valuations outside this time period, but only in special circumstances.

Contact your local council about your CV and LV

The ARC does not have the authority to amend the CV and LV we use to rate your property. If you wish to object to the CV and LV we have used, we will contact your local council to confirm that the CV and LV we have used are the same CV and LV they have on their records. Objections to your CV and LV should be directed to your local council, who may refer you on to their VSP.

How will a change in valuation affect your ARC rates?

The amount of ARC rates you are liable to pay will change if your CV and LV are amended. However, the CV and LV we have used to rate your property are assumed to be correct until we receive notification from your local council that the CV and LV have been amended.

For this reason, at the time your rates assessment/invoice is issued, you are liable to pay the amount of rates as it appears on your rates assessment/invoice.

If your valuations are amended by the local council, the amount of ARC rates you are liable to pay will change. In this case the ARC must take the following action (under the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002):

• if your valuations are amended downwards, your ARC rates will be less than originally assessed. If you have already paid your rates in full, we will credit your account for the amount you have overpaid
• you may request we refund this amount to you or you may leave this amount on your rate account to be credited towards next year's rates
• if your valuations are amended upwards, your ARC rates will be more than those originally assessed. In this case, we are required to issue you with an amended rates assessment/invoice
• you are liable to pay the full amount of the amended rates assessment by the new payment dates on the amended rates assessment/invoice.

Disputing rates

Rates payment obligations

• Ratepayers cannot choose whether to pay rates or not. There is a legal obligation for all ratepayers to pay the rates assessed for their property.
• The ARC is required by the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002 to collect rates from the ratepayer(s) for every rateable property in the Auckland region.
• If rates are not paid, the ARC has legal options available to collect the outstanding rates from the ratepayer.

Disputing rates

Ratepayers sometimes disagree with the ARC's rating policies and as a result, will refuse to pay some or all of their rates. In this case they may say the rates are in dispute. However, disagreeing with rates policies does not create a legally recognised rates dispute.

There are however circumstances in which a ratepayer can object to information used in assessing rates. If the objection is upheld, then a credit of rates may follow.

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Grounds for an objection

A ratepayer can object on the following grounds:

• certain property information used to calculate their rates is incorrect (section 29 of the LGRA 2002). Note this does not include the valuation of the property which is the subject of a separate objection process at the time the valuation is made every three years
• the ARC has not calculated the rates for a property correctly or the rates balance is incorrect (Section 39 of the LGRA 2002)
• the property should be non-rateable or part non-rateable. Objection process
• a ratepayer needs to notify the ARC that they are objecting to the information. The ARC will then thoroughly investigate the matter and will notify the ratepayer of the outcome of the investigation
• when a ratepayer makes an objection, under the LGRA 2002 they are still required to pay their rates in full until the objection is resolved. If the objection is upheld, any consequential credit will be given.

Some examples that do not constitute a rates dispute or grounds for objection are:

• disagreeing with ARC policies
• a belief that the ARC does not benefit the individual ratepayer
• non-receipt of the invoice as a direct result of the ratepayer not updating contact details with the local council
• arrears from previous owners
• penalty remission applications
• financial hardship.

Your feedback on rating policy

Like all other local government organisations, the ARC offers a proper process by which ratepayers can have their opinion of our rating policies taken into consideration.

Every year, the ARC proposes activities for the next financial year through its draft annual plan, and how those activities should be funded. The ARC then consults the community to get their feedback on the proposals. People are invited to make submissions on rating policy or any other proposed activity and have their views taken into consideration.

Download a printable factsheet of this valuation information here.

Contact Us

If you want to know more about regional rates, you can email our rates team or call the Rates Information Line on 09 366 2000 press 3.

Call 0800 80 60 40 if you are outside the Auckland free calling area.