Eleventh-hour rates relief for Aucklanders with uninhabitable homes

A sigh of relief at the eleventh hour: Auckland Council has advised some residents that they will not need to pay rates for their uninhabitable homes.

Residents affected by flooding or Cyclone Gabrielle have welcomed the rebate but say the communication from council came at the very last minute, causing unnecessary stress at a time they are struggling to juggle a mountain of extra costs.

The cut-off for Aucklanders to pay their quarterly rates instalment was Wednesday, 31 May at 5pm.

Just two hours before this deadline, Parnell resident Luci Harrison received an email from the council:

"We're pleased to inform you that Auckland Council has agreed to grant full rates relief for your 3rd and 4th quarter instalments.

"This means that you are not required to pay your rates for the second half of the 2022/2023 financial year.

"We hope this provides some relief following the recent storm events."

A landslide at the back of Harrison's property meant she had not been able to live in her home since the January floods.

Until Wednesday, she had still been required to pay rates - although the council had excused residents with red and yellow-stickered properties from late payment penalties.

Harrison celebrated when she received the email from council.

But she questioned why it took so long to arrive - so long that she had already paid her rates, and they would now be credited to cover her next instalments.

"It's been such a battle to get it," she said.

"I can't believe they didn't just go ahead and give us what the other council has.

"We've had to go through such a process, such a fight to get this approved, and it just seems ridiculous."

That other council was Hastings District Council, which had given red-stickered homeowners automatic rates relief after Cyclone Gabrielle.

The council had also added yellow-stickered properties to the list after community consultation revealed this group was being treated unfairly.

Other councils took a similar approach.

Thames Coromandel was quick to announce automatic relief for residents with uninhabitable properties, granting it just three days after the cyclone.

Harrison said while these councils paved the way, Auckland Council dragged its feet and put the burden on ratepayers.

"We've had to fill out three or four forms of a grant for council for the four different instalments, and we've had to plead hardship to be able to get our rates relief.

"The grant is going to pay back the council, so the council has created a grant that's paid back to the council.

"It's very complex and complicated where the council could have just relieved the red-stickered people."

Huapai resident Colin Emm had his house red-stickered after the January floods.

Although it had recently been downgraded to yellow, he was still unable to live there.

While he welcomed the rates support, he said it was just the tip of a titanic iceberg of costs he was facing.

"To be honest, the rates relief is great, but in the situation we're in, we've got a lot of other stuff on our plate."

Emm would not have to pay rates of $110 a fortnight for the last two quarters, but he still faced major rebuild costs for his flooded home, plus rent for a place down the road while that was getting fixed up.

And he said even after rebuilding, there was every chance his home could get flooded again.

"It's been a real slow process and it's quite frustrating for us because we're 99.9 percent sure that it will flood again here," Emm said.

"It's just a bit of a nightmare, to be honest.

"We don't really want to live here again, so we're just in limbo."

Further west in Muriwai, Maria Koppens had been out of a home since Cyclone Gabrielle swept through in February.

She appreciated the council's rates respite but said she had experienced needless anxiety waiting for it to come through.

"It was a sigh of relief because that's one less bill to pay, but it was also delivered at the very last second after causing great stress."

Auckland Council head of rates valuations Rhonwen Heath said the council decided in March to reopen its Emergency Relief Fund and boost it by $1 million to provide rates relief for residents with uninhabitable properties, regardless of the colour of their stickers.

Applications for this fund closed on 5 May, and residents were notified whether they were successful on 16 May.

However, the 16 May email lacked detail on the level of support to be granted:

"We're happy to inform you that your application has been approved.

"The level of support will be confirmed closer to the payment date which is set to occur prior to 31 May 2023."

That detail - full rates relief - only came on Wednesday, 31 May, just hours before the rates instalment was due.

And residents did not know what the future would bring, with the council signalling that residents would continue to receive rates notices as normal from 1 July.