New property ratings valuations are out this week.

It’s time to check your RV, and we don’t mean the kind you park up at a campground. Property owners in the Queenstown Lakes District will soon receive a 2017 Notice of Rating Valuation with an updated rating value for their property.

According to QLDC chief financial officer Stewart Burns, "Since the last rating revaluation in July 2014 property values have risen across the district by more than 56 percent overall. Residential capital values have increased by more than 63 percent in the past three years and residential land values by more than 90 percent.”

Every property in New Zealand has a Rating Valuation (previously also know as a Government Valuation), which is usually assessed every three years. In Queenstown Lakes District, the tri-annual rating revaluation is completed by Quotable Value (QV) on behalf of QLDC. The rating valuation is not a market value for a property - it is used by council as one of the means for allocating rates for the next three years. An increase in a property’s capital value does not automatically lead to an increase in rates payable; what you pay has more to do with your property’s valuation relative to the average for the district than its value. If your property’s valuation increase is higher than the average for the district, then the capital value portion of rates on your property will be proportionally higher in the next rating year. However, the reverse also applies, and some properties could see a decrease in the capital value portion of rates. The capital value portion of rates equates to approximately 50 percent of the annual rates assessment, while the remaining portion relates to fixed charges set according to a number of factors, including location, services property (such as water and sewerage) and the primary use of the property (such as residential or accommodation). This can change every year depending on the budgetary requirements of the council's Annual Plan; the QLDC Annual Plan for 2017/18 set a rates increase of 4.15 percent across the district. Quotable Value will send a notice to all property owners advising of their new rating valuation from October 4 and new rating values are also now available to view at the QLDC service centre on Ardmore Street. Property owners can object to their new rating valuation by writing to Quotable Value prior to November 10. There is also a rates rebate scheme to assist low income earners - read about the subsidy here.

As of 2014, when rateable values were last set, Queenstown Lakes paid the eighth-highest rates in New Zealand, with an annual average of $2,420. The highest was the Western Bay of Plenty District, on $3,274, while the happy homeowners in Mackenzie District paid the lowest rates, an average of $1,104 per year.

Wonder where your rates go? Click on MORE below to look at the QDLC’s Annual Plan 2017/18 - there is a comprehensive breakdown of rates and charges starting on page 137.

PHOTO: Wanaka App