The Auckland Council looks set to change its rating policy next year to save home owners from a rates increase linked to rising property values.
Auckland mayor Len Brown. Photo: RNZ / Kim Baker Wilsson
The Council said without the one-off adjustment next year, average household rates bills would have risen by just over five percent, rather than the proposed 3.6 percent.
Mayor Len Brown was proposing a one year freeze in the incremental shift of the rating burden away from businesses onto homeowners.
Recent three-yearly revaluation of all properties found homes leapt in value by an average 34 percent.
The council had previously played down any overall impact on residential rates, but now said because home values rose more sharply than commercial property, the one-off adjustment is needed.