The Rating Valuations Act 1998 requires that every property in New Zealand must be revalued for rating purposes at least once every three years.

The Waitomo District Council Property Revaluation for 2021 is now confirmed and the 2021 Notices of Rating Valuation have been posted out to property owners.

If you have not yet received your notice, please contact WDC on 0800 932 4357.

The updated rating valuations should reflect the likely selling price of a property at the effective revaluation date, which was 1 September 2021, but does not include chattels.

The rating revaluation figures compiled by Quotable Value show that property values have increased significantly as a result of a strong property market in the district.  This has resulted in an overall district increase of 26.2%.   Residential property values have increased 64% since the 2018 revaluation with the average house value now sitting at $365,000.

The total rates revenue that Council requires is not affected by a revaluation, however, a revaluation can result in a change to the rates for individual properties with some increasing and some decreasing depending on how an individual property value has changed in relation to the average change for the district.

It is important to note that only a portion of the annual rates are linked to the property value. In the 2021/22 year, a typical residential property with a capital value of $270,000 has rates of $3,946.75. Only a quarter of this amount, $1,009.75, is based on the properties valuation so only this portion is affected by a change in valuation. The remainder of the total rates is made up of fixed charges that are not impacted by valuation changes.

You can see your new valuation by searching for your property online here or giving us a call on 0800 932 4357.

The valuation is a valuation of your property as of 1 September 2021. This will be updated in all of Council’s systems and will be available in the Rating Information Database for anyone to see; however, it won’t affect your rates until next year starting 1 July 2022.

If owners or ratepayers do not agree with the rating value they have the right to object.  You can download an objection form here or you can request a form from our Customer Services Team.  

For further information please refer to our Frequently asked questions below 

The objection close-off date is 18 March 2022.

Once you receive your valuation notice in February 2022, you will have the opportunity to object if you disagree with your property’s new valua­tion.

Download the objection form here (PDF 606 KB)

 

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the valuation for?

The valuations are compiled by statute, under the Rating Valuations Act 1998.  They are produced for rating purposes only (to be used by Waitomo District Council and Waikato Regional Council) and are not to provide values for property owners to use for marketing, sales or any other purposes.

The rating valuations are an estimate of a properties market value (excluding chattels) as at September 2021.  The property markets tend to change over time therefore rating valuations do not necessarily reflect the current market value at a later date.

How often are valuations issued?

Every property in New Zealand must be revalued for rating purposes at least once every 3 years according to the Rating Valuations Act 1998. Quotable Value (QV) is currently Council’s Valuation Service Provider.

All changes in value in between revaluations (building consent/subdivisions etc) are valued as at the market at the last revaluation to maintain uniformity.

 

How are the values assessed?

The community and the market sets the value levels and Council’s valuation service provider interprets this to form the new rating values. QV also inspect a number of properties each revaluation.

The valuers consider a number of factors, including:

• What properties sold for in the area
• The demand to buy or rent property in the area
• The type of property: is it as house, townhouse, factory, or shop etc
• Improvements made since the last valuation
• Information in the existing District Valuation Roll
• Information about residential and commercial trends obtained from market surveys

The values are then subject to an audit process by the Office of the Valuer General prior to being sent to the property owners.

 

Do the valuations include GST?

The rating valuation includes GST, if any, for residential property. Generally, in most residential transactions the parties are not registered for GST. For other property types GST is excluded.

 

How can Quotable Value assess the property values without thoroughly inspecting them?

It is not feasible to undertake a full inspection on every property in the district. QV already hold individual details about each property, which in many cases includes a plan of the main improvements, age, materials, floor area, construction type, other onsite improvements etc. QV receive notification of any major change such as subdivisions and building consents issued by WDC and carry out roadside inspections to record other changes.

 

Why has the land value increased and improvement value decreased?

In accordance with the Rating Valuations Act 1998 the Land Value is assessed as if it was vacant. 

Assessing the rating valuations involves research into two distinct areas of the real estate market- improved properties and vacant properties, which often behave independently of each other.

In redevelopments areas there is often a strong market for vacant sites while (older and obsolete) properties are not in demand.

If the Land Value is increasing at a faster rate than the Capital Value then the effect will be a reduction in your Value of Improvements, but remember that the improvements is simply a residual value and does not necessarily equate to the replacement cost of the buildings on the land.

 

Will an individual’s rates increase because the valuation has?

A change in a properties capital value does not mean that the rates will automatically change, as the revaluation does not impact the rates revenue required by Council.  If all the properties in the district had the same increase in value and there was no change in budget there would be no change to the rates charged.

However, the revaluation can result in a change to the rates charged to individual properties with some increasing and some decreasing because the rates charged on the basis of capital value are split among properties proportionally.

If you think of Council’s rate income as a pie, the size of the pie does not increase because of the revaluation.  However, an individual ratepayer’s slice of the pie might get bigger or smaller depending on how their property value has changed in relation to the average change for the district.

The overall Capital value of the Waitomo District is assessed at $4.6 billion. That represents a 26.2% increase on the value of the Waitomo District in September 2018.  Below is a summary of the value changes for the main categories of land in the Waitomo District.

 

Main Categories	No. of properties	Capital Value % Change	Land Value % Change
Commercial	202	15.3%	30.4%
Industrial	106	42.1%	153.7%
Dairy	118	3.2%	1.8%
Pastoral	785	17.9%	19.9%
Lifestyle	1381	46.7%	81.8%
Residential	2439	64.1%	110.1%
TOTAL (all categories)	5871	26.2%	31.4%

 

Therefore, if a property value has increased more than the average increase of the district, they will experience an increase (over and above any increases due to a change in revenue required) due to the revaluation.

Only rates charged on the basis of capital value will be affected by the revaluation (General Rate, District Roading Rate, District Development Rates and Urban Stormwater Rate).  All other rates charged on a uniform basis will not be affected.

 

Can anyone get the valuation of any property they are interested in?

Yes.  The valuation of a property is available for public inspection at any time.  Although note that names and addresses are not publicly available if the ratepayer has requested that their information be withheld.

 

What if the ratepayer disagrees with the valuation?

Owners and/or Ratepayers have the opportunity to object to the new values when the valuation notices are sent out in February 2022.  A formal objection (in writing) is required to be lodged before the closing date for objections – 18 March 2022.  The objection form is available on Council’s website or from the Customer Services Team.  When objecting, owners/ratepayers need to include the following information:

• Valuation Number
• Location
• Land, Improvement and Capital values
• Contact phone number
• Name and interest in the rating unit
• Postal address
• Reason for objecting
• What they realistically believe the values should be, and evidence to support their values.

 

When do the 2021 Rating Values take effect?

The new valuations are as at 1 September 2021 and will come into effect for rating purposes rates 1 July 2022, for the 2022/23 rating year.

Why is it fair that my rates go up when I haven’t made any changes to my property?

Rates are essentially property tax and the capital value is the method by which some ‘tax’ is charged.  The effect of this is the more your property is worth the more you pay.  This is similar to income tax – the more you earn the more you pay.  You might not have changed your job and on the surface nothing has changed, but a pay increase results in you are paying more tax.  This is similar to a change in property value, you haven’t changed anything, but the property is worth more, so you pay more – that is the nature of tax.