Rates remissions

A rates remission of 50% of the base general rate may be granted to properties that are classified as ‘rural’ under the District Plan and used principally for farming or conservation purpose where:

• the property exceeds 30ha in area and
• 50% or more of the rateable capital value of the property is made up of the land value, and
• the principal use of the land is for conservation, agriculture, horticulture, pastoral or silviculture purposes, or for the keeping of bees, poultry or other livestock (excluding commercial dog kennels or catteries).

Use our property search to find the base general rate amount. You can then work out the amount you may be granted.

The objective of this remission is to provide upfront rates relief for ratepayers that take positive action to address the structural safety of their earthquake-prone buildings.

Conditions and criteria:

The Council may postpone and subsequently remit rates after development, for earthquake-prone buildings falling under either of the following 2 categories:

1. Residential buildings that have body corporates; or
2. One- or two-story commercial/ mixed use buildings

This policy does not apply to any demolition, strengthening or rebuilding for which building consents were issued prior to this policy being adopted.

A full postponement of general rates will be granted for up to three years prior to the period in which the seismic strengthening is undertaken. The application must include documentation which gives evidence of a) either the proposed strengthening work and the time envisaged for that work to be done, including milestones to be achieved, b) or the proposed demolition and rebuilding and the time envisaged for that work to be done. Application for this remission must be made no later than three months before the intended strengthening and demolition and must be supported by a Statutory declaration.

After completion of the seismic strengthening work, the postponed rates will be remitted. If the development work or strengthening is not completed, then the remission would not apply, and the rates postponement would come to an end (this is, the postponed rates would be payable).

The objective of this remission is to provide rates relief to properties undergoing development or earthquake strengthening while those properties are temporarily not fit for purpose and therefore not receiving the benefits derived by contributing to the sector or downtown targeted rates.

Conditions and criteria:

The Council may remit part or all of the commercial sector targeted rate, Business Improvement District targeted rate and downtown targeted rate on land classified under the Council’s commercial, industrial and business differential as defined within our Funding Impact Statement Rating Mechanisms, where the property is deemed to be ‘not fit for purpose’ due to the property being under development or due to the existing building being earthquake strengthened.

The Council may remit part or all of the Base sector targeted rate on land classified under the Council’s Base differential (including residential) as defined within our Funding Impact Statement Rating Mechanisms, where the property is deemed to be ‘not fit for purpose’ due to the property being under development or due to the existing building being earthquake strengthened.

‘Not fit for purpose’ is defined in this policy as where:

1. the property (rating unit), or an identifiable part of the property, will not hold sufficient consents to permit occupation; and
2. the property (rating unit), or an identifiable part of the property, will not be used for any purpose, apart from the construction of buildings, premises or associated works, or earthquake strengthening works; and
3. the property (rating unit), or an identifiable part of the property, will not generate any revenue stream.
4. the remission will be granted on a pro-rata basis for the identifiable part of the property to which the above criteria (i – iii) apply, for the purpose of the remission this will be calculated based on the portion of the total floor area of the rating unit which is deemed ‘not fit for purpose’.

The above criteria apply to, and must be met by, an entire rating unit as identified in the Council’s rating information database (RID), or a clearly identifiable portion of the rating unit, and apply only for the period the building is not ‘fit for purpose’.

A remission may be granted where the property was on the Council’s Earthquake Prone Building list (EQP list) and the owner has taken action to remove that building from the list. Removal from the list can be through either strengthening to more than 33 percent NBS or by removing the building from the site. 

The following conditions must be met:

• The building must have been on the EQP list.
• The building owner must have taken action to remove their building from this list either through seismic strengthening or building removal.
• The remission must be applied for within 12 months of the building being removed from the EQP list and will relate to the following specified number of rating years only: 
  • for all buildings (not applicable to heritage remissions below) that are removed from the EQP list, the building owner may apply for this remission for a total period of 3 years
  • for all buildings removed from the EQP list that are listed on the Wellington City District Plan Heritage List, the building owner may apply for this remission for a total period of 5 years after the removal of the building from the EQP list
  • for all building as per (b) and are identified by Heritage New Zealand as Category I on the New Zealand Heritage list, the building owner may apply for this remission for a total period of 10 years after removal of the building from the EQP list
  • for all buildings as per (b) and are identified by Heritage New Zealand as Category II on the New Zealand Heritage list, the building owner may apply for this remission for a total period of 8 years after the removal of the building from the EQP list.

Note:

The property owner only needs to make the initial application. There is no need to re-apply in subsequent years.

Conditions:

• The remission will not be available for buildings already removed from the list prior to this policy being implemented.
• The remission is only available to the property owner who has taken action to remedy their building. It will not be available to a third-party purchaser of the building even if a sale took place within the remission period applicable to that building being removed from the EQP list.
• For earthquake prone buildings that have been removed from the site, evidence must be provided to Council of the building removal and the building must have been removed from the EQP list.

A remission may be granted on a metered water rate for excess water use where there has been a leak or broken pipe on the ratepayer’s property which has been fixed within a reasonable time period. The excess water consumption may only be remitted to the level of the current Greater Wellington Regional Council bulk water rate.

A full or partial remission may be granted where a natural disaster or other type of emergency has resulted in a property becoming inhabitable or occupied for an extended period of time.

Conditions, funding and criteria for this remission will be determined through a Council resolution.

A 50% remission can be grated when land is used principally for games or sport. 

The rating unit must meet the following conditions:

• must have a club licence under the Sale of Liquor Act 1989
• would otherwise qualify as 50% non-rateable under Part 2, (Schedule 1) of the Local Government (Rating) Act
• is rated at the base differential.

It is recognised that not all situations in which it may be appropriate for the Council to remit rates will necessarily be known in advance and/or provided for in specific rating policies. In circumstances where the rating policy is deemed by the Council to unfairly disadvantage an individual ratepayer, the Council may grant a one-off remission of part or all of the general rate on condition that the remission does not set a precedent that unfairly disadvantages other ratepayers.

A remission under this policy will apply for one year only. Applicants must reapply annually.

When rates have not been received by the due date and a penalty has been applied, the Council may remit all or part of a penalty where it considers that it is fair and equitable to do so.

Matters that will be taken into consideration include the following:

• the ratepayers payment history, and
• the impact on the ratepayer of an extraordinary event, and
• the payment of the full amount of rates due, or
• the ratepayer makes an agreement with the Council for the payment of rates within a reasonable timeframe.

The Council reserves the right to impose conditions on the remission of penalties.

The Council does not have separate policies that apply to Māori Freehold Land. The rates remission policies applicable to Māori Freehold Land are identical to those that apply to non-Māori Freehold Land.

The Council may provide additional assistance of up to $700 to those who have been approved for the New Zealand Government rates rebate.

The application for this remission will be assessed in conjunction with a ratepayers application for the New Zealand Government rates rebate.

The applicant must be the owner of the rating unit, must reside at the property and the property must be in the base differential rating category.

This remission does not cover Companies, Trusts and any other legal structures even if they do qualify for the Government Rebate.

Penalties may be remitted or postponed where it is considers it is fair and equitable to do so upon receiving applications from ratepayers.

Remissions will be considered for natural disasters and emergencies for all or part of any levy or charge assessed in relation to a particular rating unit where:

• a natural disaster or other type of emergency has affected its capacity to be inhabited, used, or otherwise occupied for an extended period of time.
• it is considered fair to do so and has identified the individual event causing a disaster or emergency through Council resolution.
• it meets any further guidance provided by Wellington City Council as to how the Council will implement the above criteria for the particular event, depending on the nature and severity of the event and available funding at the time.

Remission of levies in special circumstances

In circumstances where the levy policy is deemed to unfairly disadvantage an individual ratepayer, we may grant a one-off remission of all or part of the levy – on the condition that the remission does not set a precedent that unfairly disadvantages other ratepayers.