This is a fixed amount per rating unit, or per separately used or inhabited part of a rating unit, for all rateable land within the district.

Note that “separately used or inhabited part of a rating unit” is a new term under the new Local Government (Rating) Act 2002.  Where rates are calculated on each separately used or inhabited part of a rating unit, the following definition will apply.

Any portion of a rating unit used or inhabited by any person, other than the ratepayer or member of the ratepayers household, having a right to use or inhabit that portion by virtue of a tenancy, lease, license or other agreement.

This gives Council the ability to separately rate multiple dwellings on a single certificate of title, such as each flat within a block of flats, each shop within a block of shops, or a self-contained unit in a residential back yard.  This new definition of a rating unit is of particular significance to Kaikoura, as we have one of the largest numbers of multi-unit dwellings per head of population in New Zealand.

The objective of using separately used or inhabited parts of a rating unit is to spread the cost of Council’s activities in the fairest and most equitable manner.  The rating of these separate parts was not lawfully available to Council under the previous Rating Powers Act, and so resulted in single households paying the same amount in uniform annual charges as would a number of households located on the same title property.

Purpose

To fund the general operations of Council, including waste management, governance, library services, parks and reserves, environmental health and civil defence.