Rates FAQs

There are many ways to pay, including online via credit or debit card, online banking, direct credit or via direct debit. Look on the back of your rates invoice, or head over to our payments page to find out more and make a payment.

Every property owner in our region contributes to the work of Environment Southland through their rates. As your regional council, Environment Southland’s role differs from the other councils.

We are responsible for managing Southland’s natural, physical resources – water, land, air and the coast – on your behalf. We do this, in part, through consenting, compliance and regional planning. In addition, we have community- and science-based programmes to improve water quality, land sustainability, air quality and biodiversity.

Some of these costs are paid directly by users, some are funded by others, like the Government, and some are funded from your rates.

Total expenditure for the 2024/25 year is around $51 million, of which approximately:

• $30m goes to Healthy Environment – to protect, enhance and restore Southland’s natural environment, indigenous biodiversity and its capacity to provide for current and future generations.
• $14.9m goes to Safe and Resilient Communities – to enable communities to provide for their health, safety and social, cultural and economic wellbeing.
• $6.m goes to Thriving Region – to enable democratic decision-making and promote practices that allow communities and our natural environment to flourish.

Income to fund our expenditure is received from a combination of:

• Rates (57.8%)
• Fees and charges (23.6%)
• South Port NZ Ltd dividend (9.4%)
• Levies and contributions (2.6%)
• Rental income (2.4%)
• Investment income (4.2%)

• expenses related to a direct benefit for a specific ratepayer are partially recovered by fees and charges – an example is resource consents, where the cost is mainly charged back to the applicant
• expenses that have an overall benefit to a group of ratepayers are recovered by way of a targeted rate, for example flood protection and drainage is recovered through a river catchment rate for areas that benefit from this service
• expenditure that benefits all ratepayers is recovered by way of a general rate.

This year’s average rates increase is 12.6%, which equates to approximately 67c per week for a $450,000 property. The increase includes an inflation adjustment and investment in ongoing flood protection work.

This year, we began transitioning from using predominantly land value to predominantly capital value when calculating rates. Actual amounts for individual ratepayers always vary due to differences and changes in property valuations. There will be further consultation during 2024-2025 on whether there is a local rate or regional rate to fund river management programmes.

General rates are paid by everyone in the region. The general rate covers expenditure that Council considers all ratepayers should contribute to. For example, research and monitoring of Southland’s water, land, air and coast to ensure they’re managed sustainably and available for future generations to use and enjoy.

The general rate consists of two parts:

• the Uniform Annual General Charge, which is a fixed amount that is the same for every ratepayer in Southland
• a variable part, which is based on the capital value of each property.

The Uniform Annual General Charge is the fixed amount of your general rate. It covers activities that benefit everyone regardless of property size or value, such as emergency management, pollution prevention, environmental education, community representation and our 24-hour environmental response service through our 0800 76 88 45 phone number.

All ratepayers contribute to the work of our biosecurity team through their annual rates. We work with people to reduce the impact of harmful species on Southland’s environment. Specifically, the biosecurity rate pays for work programmes detailed in the Southland Regional Pest Management Plan and the Southland Biosecurity Strategy . This year you may notice this rate has halved, as a proportion of this work has moved to the general rate which is calculated on the capital value.

Every property in Southland pays a land sustainability rate. This rate enables us to work with the Southland community, supporting them to take informed and brave environmental action. Our team in land management, pollution prevention, and environmental education work with rural and urban Southlanders to provide advice, and help landowners understand and navigate increasingly complex regulatory frameworks. This year you may notice this rate has halved, as a proportion of this work has moved to the general rate which is calculated on capital value.

A direct debit is a formal arrangement with Environment Southland which allows us to request money from your bank to pay your rates for a specific property.

Under that agreement, we give you the flexibility to spread your annual rates instalments, paying a third on the due day in November, a third in February and the final third in May, without incurring penalty interest.

We automatically adjust the payment amounts each year to match your rates.
The arrangement continues until you cancel it, or sell the rated property, or change banks.

Direct debit agreements are property specific. If you own more than one property, you will need to enter a separate direct debit agreement for each of them you wish to put under arrangement, and each account must be current at the time of sign up to a direct debit.

An automatic payment is an arrangement between you and your bank.

You set up the payment frequency and amount to suit your budget and ask your bank to make the payments to us.

It is up to you to ensure those payments are sufficient to cover your rates in full when they are due on the last Friday in November.

If you fail to fully pay your rates with your automatic payments by the due date, you will be charged 10% penalty interest on any amount owing.

Every rates account is unique. If you have any questions or concerns about your account, please contact our rates team on 0800 377 2837, or send us an email to rates@es.govt.nz.