Your rates help deliver a wide range of day-to-day activities and services, and support investment in Auckland’s assets.
About rates
What are rates?
In Tāmaki Makaurau, property rates are an annual charge paid by all property owners to Auckland Council. They are a way of fairly sharing the cost of essential services and attractions that benefit everyone in our region.
The money is used to help fund local services and infrastructure we all rely on – things like roading, libraries, events, playgrounds and rubbish collections. It also contributes towards major civic projects that benefit generations to come, like new stadiums and transport networks.
READ MORE: How your Auckland rates support essential services
How are rates calculated?
Every year, the council works out how much it’s going to cost to deliver its Annual Plan. This sets out what the council aims to achieve over the next financial year, including ongoing delivery of council services and facilities, infrastructure maintenance and upgrades, and any special projects being funded that year.
Rates make up about 40 per cent of council income and contribute significantly to delivering a better Auckland.
You can think of the total rates requirement as a pie that needs to be shared across more than 650,000 Auckland properties. The share you pay will depend on your property’s rating valuation.
What is a general rate vs a targeted rate?
A general rate is a charge paid by all ratepayers that goes towards funding a range of services that benefit the whole region, such as public transport, roads, parks, libraries, or public infrastructure.
A targeted rate is a separate charge that is used to fund a specific project or service. Sometimes a targeted rate applies only to properties that will receive that service or benefit, or sometimes they’re applied to all properties for a particular purpose. For example, the Natural Environment Targeted Rate is paid by all ratepayers, while the City Centre Targeted Rate is paid by property owners in the city centre only.
READ MORE: How your rates bill is made up
Rating valuation and rates
What role do property CVs play in rates setting?
Property rating valuations are set every three years and the updated values apply for the following three years of rates setting.
The biggest changes to rates usually happen in the first year after new capital values (CVs) are introduced through rating valuations, because the updated values can change how the rates bill is shared between properties. After that, rates tend to be more stable until the next revaluation. The last rating valuation mainly influenced changes for 2025/2026 and the next revaluation will influence 2028/2029 rates.
A property's rating valuation is used to help work out how rates are shared between properties. It is not used to decide how much money Auckland Council collects overall.
The council first decides how much funding is needed to provide services such as roads, parks, libraries, public transport and community facilities. Rating valuations (CVs) are then used to calculate each property's share of those costs. For example, if your property has a higher CV than most other properties, you may pay a larger share of rates.
READ MORE: About property revaluations
My property value has fallen, why aren't my rates reduced?
A common misconception is that if property values rise or fall, Auckland Council rates will increase, or reduce, too.
In fact, the Annual Plan determines how much rates revenue will need to be collected for the year ahead, and then rating valuations (CVs) help work out everyone’s share. So even if your property's value goes down, your rates won't necessarily go down too. What matters is how your property's value changes compared to other properties.
For example, if most property values go down by a similar amount, everyone's share stays about the same, so rates may not change much. However, if your property drops by 25 per cent and the average drop for other residential properties is 10 per cent, you could expect to pay less rates.
It’s about sharing the total rates revenue fairly across all ratepayers, using current rating valuations.
Understanding your rates
Why do rates go up every year?
Auckland Council works hard to keep rates rises down by closely managing its annual budget and investing carefully to deliver income beyond rates. However, like other cities around New Zealand, rates increases can be required to manage inflation, cost increases like fuel and other funding challenges, as the cost to fund our growing region increases. To help minimise reliance on rates rises, the council is focused on achieving annual savings targets and work that delivers increased value to ratepayers.
READ MORE:
Where Auckland’s Annual Plan 2026/27 has landed
Annual Plan: what’s happening with rates?
What are we doing to keep rates rises down?
As a council, we continue to focus on keeping rates rises to a minimum by meeting ambitious annual savings targets and investing carefully to generate income beyond rates.
Savings directly keep rates rises down. There are also additional council programmes that help deliver additional value to our ratepayers.
For example, value for money reviews have identified general financial benefits worth up to $60 million, with more reviews into areas like waste, stormwater, and sports and recreation underway. Better Value Projects sees us cut costs through smarter designs, and we’re saving money by selling off surplus assets to pay for ones that better serve Aucklanders.
In addition, the Auckland Future Fund was introduced in 2024 and is an investment on behalf of all Aucklanders to enhance return on council investment and create long-term wealth for the region.
READ MORE:
Changes to your property rates for the 2026/2027 rating year
Annual Plan: what’s happening with rates?
How do I pay my rates?
In Auckland, rates are split into four payments that are due across the year, with notices going out in August, November, February and May. Property owners will receive these either by post or via email if you’ve signed up for E-rates.
There are a number of ways to pay, including online using a myAUCKLAND account, using internet banking, or via direct debit. You can also pay your rates bill in person at libraries or post offices around Auckland.
While each instalment has a fixed due date, there are a range of ways you can spread payments across the year – such as monthly, fortnightly or weekly payments.
If you own more than one property, you will be sent a separate bill for each property.
Assistance is available for paying rates
What if I can’t afford to pay my rates bill?
Anyone concerned about paying their rates is encouraged to get in touch as we have a range of assistance options available. They include:
- a government-funded rates rebate scheme
- a rates postponement scheme for residential properties
- flexible payment options, such as direct debits offering weekly, fortnightly, monthly, quarterly, and annual payment.
Information on the options can be found on the Auckland Council website and on our rates invoices. We encourage ratepayers to consider the options.
If these options are not available to you, contact us on 09 301 0101 and ask to speak with our credit control team to discuss payment options.
Still have questions?More information is available - visit Property rates and valuations |