20 Dec 2013

Council remits penalties for rates rebels

8:34 pm on 20 December 2013

Kaipara District Council is offering an olive branch to people who refused to pay their rates in protest at its previous mismanagement.

Nearly 1000 ratepayers in the district have been withholding their rates for more than a year, after the council tried to impose big increases to cover cost blow-outs in the Mangawhai sewerage scheme.

Commissioners now running the council have agreed to remit penalties charged to rate accounts in March and July this year.

Chairman John Robertson said the move is intended to encourage those with rate arrears to pay up.

Now that Parliament has passed a bill to validate past rating errors, he said there was no reason for people not to pay.