South Wairarapa District Council is seeking feedback on the remission of Uniform Annual General Charge and Uniform Targeted Rates in certain circumstances.

To allow rate relief where it is considered fair and reasonable to do so, Council is required to adopt a policy specifying the circumstances under which rates will be considered for remission. There are various types of remission, and the circumstances under which a remission will be considered for each type may be different.

As part of the Rating Policies Review undertaken in 2023, Council decided to move to a charge per Separately Used or Inhabitable Part (SUIP) base for several fixed charges. A decision was also taken to combine all remission policies into one policy, and in doing that, Councils intention to adopt a policy to provide remission of the Uniform Annual General Charge (UAGC) and Uniform Targeted Rates in certain circumstances was not as clear as it could have been.

As the basis of the policy was not included in the Remission of Rates policy in its final format or opened for public consultation, Council is consulting separately on a Remission of UAGC and Uniform Targeted Rates for Separately Used or Inhabitable Parts (SUIP’s) policies. The consultation outlines the addition of four distinct objectives of the remissions policy as it related to SUIP’s:

• To provide relief to ratepayers with more than one SUIP where one or more SUIP’s are occupied by dependent or other family members.
• To provide relief to ratepayers where a property is a retail unit and has a residential SUIP occupied by the owner of the retail unit.
• To provide relief to ratepayers of dairying or pastoral farming properties where one or more SUIP’s is an unoccupied or unused farm building that is no longer required for the operation of the farming activity.
• To provide relief to ratepayers of dairying or pastoral farming properties where one or more SUIP’s is accommodation used by workers essential in the day-to-day operation of the farming activity.

Consultation is open between 22 July and 5 August. Council is interested in feedback so we can ensure the policies reflect the views of the community.

More information, along with how to provide your feedback can be found here.

ENDS

Media enquiries: media@swdc.govt.nz