Ratepayers across the Wellington region have raised concerns about the cost of their new Tiaki Wai bills, with some reporting significant increases in their combined rates and water charges.
In Lower Hutt, an unused granny flat had left Anthony Allen facing projected annual water costs of about $4500.
He said his household's rates bill was previously $7133 a year, but the addition of Tiaki Wai charges meant his combined costs were now approaching $10,000 – an increase of about 36%.
“Knowing that there's nothing that we can do is quite a level of helplessness here," he told 1News.
Allen said he supported investing in the region's water infrastructure but questioned whether the amount he was being charged reflected his household's actual water consumption.
“My household consists of two adults and two ten-year-old children who alternate between co-parent households. Given our occupancy levels, I do not believe our water usage is excessive," he said.
Since July, ratepayers in Porirua, Hutt Valley and Wellington had paid for water services separately to their rates through Tiaki Wai.
The average water bill for 2026/27 across the four cities was expected to be 13.3% more than what had been paid through council rates.
Other residents had also been adding up their combined bills and calculating what the change would mean for their household budgets.
"Prior to the changes I was paying $1244 for my rates each quarter. With the new system I’m now paying $894 in rates, and a further $578.56 in water making it $1472.56, at an increase of 18%," one Stokes Valley resident told 1News.
In Petone, Lester Carlo Lomboy said he and his partner were concerned after calculating that their fortnightly direct debit payments would amount to roughly $2000 more over the year than the amount they had been invoiced for.
“It's very alarming," he said. "It's not like we're picking up money on the street."
Lomboy said he had contacted Tiaki Wai to question the direct debit but was told to wait five working days for a response.
“However, it's already debited in our account as well so that's why it's much more concerning for us."
More than 20 ratepayers across the region contacted 1News saying they were yet to receive their water bill, despite payments being due in a few weeks.
"I have not received my water bill. Gulp. Prepared for the worse. I co-own [my] house with my daughter," a Porirua resident wrote.
"Well, if they start asking me for money, I'll be asking them for the bill first. I'm not going to pay something I haven't seen," another said.
Tiaki Wai responds
Tiaki Wai said it needed to know more about specific cases involving to granny flats before it could give any direction.
"The best thing is for the customer to get in touch with us directly. The same applies for any customer who has a query about their specific circumstances," it said.
The organisation added that all bills had now been sent, although some may had been returned or gone undelivered.
"Naturally some will have bounced back or been undelivered, although we aren’t aware of any issue that would cause 'large numbers' not to have arrived.
"They weren’t all sent out at once, as the councils sent these on our behalf using existing systems. So, some areas did receive theirs ahead of others."
SHARE ME