The Auckland Council Rating Valuations were released on 26th October 2011.  The effective date of valuation was 1 July 2011.  The last Rating Valuation in the Rodney District had an effective date of September 2007.

 

The Kaipara District Council released their Rating Valuations in November 2011 with an effective date of valuation as at 1 September 2011. The last Rating Valuation in the Kaipara District had an effective date of September 2008. And these will remain to be based on Land Value and not change to Capital Value.

 

For property owners under the Auckland Council, from the 1st July 2012 rates will be purely based on Capital Value rather than Land Value which was previously the basis for assessing rates in the Rodney District. 

 

It is therefore essential for Rodney District rate payers to check not only the Land Value but also the Capital Value to ensure they are not overvalued and ultimately over rated.  Capital Value is the Land Value plus the Value of Improvements, which include buildings, pools, fences etc.

 

If you considered your new Land Value and/or Value of Improvements were inflated above market levels, then you should have objected to your Valuation, as this will affect your Rating Valuations over the next three years. When you receive your 2012 Rates bill based on Capital Value, there will be NO means of objecting to this at this point. All objection periods for the Rodney and Kaipara District have now closed.

 

Due to the rating calculations changing from being based solely on Land Value to a Capital Value basis. Director and Registered Valuer Steve Jack from Hollis & Scholefield Ltd, says “it is more important than ever to carefully check your Rating Valuation and the values given to your property, as there is now two areas where you can object and potentially decrease your rates bill; your Land Value and the Value of your Improvements. We at Hollis & Scholefield Ltd, have a team of Registered Valuers who work throughout the Rodney and Kaipara Districts, who are happy to assist property owners who feel their properties are over valued. Do not lose this opportunity to ensure your property is fairly valued.”

 

It is important to note that Rating Valuations are not Current Market Value, they are mass appraisals, computer generated and indexed assessments for rating purposes only, as at a specific date.  In previous rating cycles in both the Rodney and Kaipara Districts we have seen wild fluctuations in actual sale prices above and below the Rating Valuations shortly after their release.  We would expect this trend to continue with the next round of releases.

 

With this in mind, we strongly recommend that Rating Valuations are not used as a basis for financial decisions, particularly for buying/selling and finance purposes.