A Bay View lifestyle block owner who felt he was being forced from his land by a proposal to increase his rural residential rates is “more than happy” the Napier City Council has changed its mind.
By Linda Hall for Local Democracy Reporting
At a meeting on Thursday, the council voted to backtrack on two proposed changes in its Annual Plan - a planned removal of the “rural residential” rates category and a change to the way CCTV monitoring was paid for in the CBD.
Robert Best, who lives with his wife in their Onehunga Road home, had estimated the removal of rural residential rates would mean they would be paying a 16% increase this year, instead of the forecast average 8.8% increase the council had flagged earlier this year.
“I’m more than happy, and I hope they never bring it up again,” Best said on Friday.
Although the council voted unanimously to retain the current rural residential rating differential at 90% of the residential general rate, “it may review it again” as part of the 2027–37 Long Term Plan.
The council also agreed to fund CCTV monitoring through general rates, rather its initially preferred option of charging only inner-city ratepayers.
Earlier this month, Napier business owners spoke out against the proposal to charge them the cost of running CCTV.
“It’s up to the council to protect its citizens. It’s appalling that they are asking us to pay for it,” one said.
Mayor Richard McGrath said the council heard the strong feedback from local businesses that CCTV monitoring provided an important safety benefit for the entire city, helping protect residents, visitors, and businesses alike.
“And we agree it’s fair that all ratepayers contribute to this cost. It’s valuable to Napier’s reputation as a safe city for the community and tourists. It also provides a valuable tool for the Police to allow them to keep our city safe,” McGrath said.
All business and rateable homes in Napier would pay a general rate of $8.11 instead.
Another proposal that generated a significant number of public submissions and discussion around the council table was the move to use capital value, rather than land value, to calculate transportation costs, primarily for roading.
Council voted to adopt that proposal. It received 157 submissions opposing it and 64 supporting it.
Unison Networks said in its submission against the proposal that Napier ratepayers would likely pay more for their electricity and telecommunications as a result.
Councillors were advised by a council officer that the proposal would increase rates for Unison, a Hastings-based electricity distributor, by about $100,000.
Councillor Nigel Simpson said the proposal reflected the cost of maintaining the roading network against the users and it “was fair” that people with factories, industries or small commercial activities were more likely to need “the likes of trucks, buses, or whatever it may be to carry their goods across our roads”.
Simpson said they were harsher on the roads than the average motor vehicle, “so by transitioning to a capital value rating base, I think, is a prudent move”.
A council spokesperson said there was some confusion among submitters on what the council’s transportation activity paid for.
“Transportation pays for costs to do with roading, footpaths, cycleways and related safety interventions. It is not related to public transport.”
They said a capital value rating system more accurately reflected the benefits a property received from local services and infrastructure.
“For example, a vacant section uses fewer services than a property with a home using council services.”
- LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
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