FAQs

If you’ve recently bought or sold the property, the required details may not have been forwarded to Horizons yet. When they do come through, we’ll issue you with a copy or a new rates invoice.

If you’ve changed your postal address and forgotten to tell us, please let us know. We’ll then issue you with a copy or a new rates invoice.

If you need to change your address, you will need to let your local city or district council know. They will update this and it will feed back into our system on a weekly basis.
 
Horowhenua District Council           06 366 0999              enquiries@horowhenua.govt.nz
Manawatū District Council                06 323 0000              public@mdc.govt.nz
Palmerston North City Council         06 356 8199               info@pncc.govt.nz
Rangitīkei District Council                 0800 422 522            info@rangitikei.govt.nz
Ruapehu District Council                  07 895 8188               info@ruapehudc.govt.nz
Tararua District Council                     06 374 4080 (North) 06 376 0110 (South) info@tararuadc.govt.nz
Whanganui District Council              06 349 0001             yourcouncil@whanganui.govt.nz
 
If you’ve done this and our information has not been updated, then you can call us on 0508 800 800

Customers with more than five invoices can request to receive one invoice for all properties, which also means only one payment will need to be made.
 

We believe it’s important that you have a clear understanding of what your rates pay for and the benefits you receive, and we’ve had feedback that more communication is desired. Every council in the country does this and it’s part of our philosophy of being transparent about what we do. We encourage you to recycle this brochure if you don’t want to keep it for future reference.

There is a section on the top right of your invoice with a code and website link. The website link will take you to our provider’s website, where you can sign up to receive your rates notices electronically. Follow the web link and enter your email address as well as the code from your notice. Sending notices via email, rather than via hard copy in the post, helps us create a more sustainable future.

Scan the QR code on your invoice and you’ll be taken directly to a credit card payment facility to pay your rates. Simply open your phone or tablet’s camera and tap on the link that appears on screen. Enter the appropriate details from your rates notice, ensuring that your valuation number is correct. Press continue and you’ll then be able to enter your credit card details to make the payment. Please note, bank fees may be applicable to online credit card payments.

Horizons is a completely separate organisation to your city/district council. City and district councils are responsible for community services in your area, such as road maintenance, libraries, recreation areas and land use.
 
Regional councils manage the natural resources, such as land, air and water, across several city and district council territories. We’re also responsible for emergency management, in conjunction with Civil Defence, and provide public transport services to many of our communities.
 
We’ve been sending out rates directly to ratepayers since 2002. Prior to this, Horizons rates were collected on our behalf by the city and district councils. We made the change to direct rating because we believe that you need to know more about how your money is spent.

We have many payment options available, including bill payment (via online banking), automatic payments, credit card, direct debit, or at the counter of one of our offices.

Further details can be found on our website, or on the back of your rates invoice. www.horizons.govt.nz/property-rates/ways-to-pay-your-rates

You can pay by direct debit in annual, quarterly, monthly or fortnightly payments. We can send you a direct debit form or you can download one directly from our website.   

 

Automatic payments can be set up one way:

• Ring us on our rates line free phone 0508 700 800 to work out how much per chosen frequency you need to pay, and then set us up as a new automatic payment through your internet banking.

We used to offer the option to take automatic payment forms to your bank, but we now only offer the above option. 

You must also contact us each year to recalculate your automatic payments. 
 
If payments aren’t made, or not enough is being paid to have completed the full invoice by the end of the current financial year (30 June), the remission of penalty will not be applied.

You can pay your rates online with a valid credit card (Visa or MasterCard). Select the 'Pay Online' option, input your details ensuring you include the correct valuation number and property address, and submit your payment. Please note that a bank fee may be charged for this payment method.

Payments can be made at any of our offices listed below, using credit card, EFTPOS, or cash. Participating NZ Post offices can also take payments, excluding credit cards, as long as you take your rates invoice with you.

Palmerston North Regional House
11-15 Victoria Avenue
Palmerston North
Mon-Thur: 8am-5pm
Fri: 8am-4:30pm

Whanganui Regional House
181 Guyton Street
Whanganui
Mon-Fri 8:30am-4:30pm (closed for lunch 12pm-1pm Mon-Fri)

Marton service centre
Hammond Street
Marton
Mon-Fri:10am-2pm

Woodville service centre
corner Vogel (SH2) and Tay Streets
Woodville
Mon-Fri: 9am-1pm

If you’re having difficulty paying your rates, we may be able to enter into a payment arrangement with you. Please contact the Horizons rates team for all payment arrangement options. If your request for a payment arrangement is successful and the payments don’t default, then a remission of penalty can be applied. Please call us on 0508 700 800 for more information.

An option to avoid having to pay all at once, or incur late payment fees, is to set up a payment plan. Get in touch with us if you'd like to discuss this option.

The Government operates a scheme to assist low-income ratepayers with payment of both their regional and city/district council rates. Claims for regional rate rebate are completed through your city or district council. Any regional rebate due will be deducted from your city or district council rates account, not your regional rates account. Application forms and further information can be obtained from www.ratesrebates.govt.nz or from your city or district council.

Payment arragements can be made by emailing us at rates@horizons.govt.nz or giving our friendly Customer Services team a call on freephone 0508 700 800. Alternatively, you can download and complete a direct debit form from our website and post it to us at the following address:

Horizons Regional Council
Private Bag 11025
Manawatū Mail Centre
Palmerston North 4442

All property owners are required by law to pay their rates. The final day for payment for all rates is 26 September 2025. If rates are not paid in full, or a payment arrangement is not in place with Horizons, penalties will be charged on 3 October 2025. Please refer to the back of your rates invoice for more information.

The Government operates a scheme to assist low income ratepayers with payment of both their regional and city/district council rates. 

Claims for regional rates rebates are completed through your city or district council. Any regional rebate due will be deducted from your city or district council rates account, not your regional rates account.

Application forms and further information can be obtained from www.ratesrebates.govt.nz or from your city or district council.

Horizons encompasses the Ruapehu, Rangitīkei, Whanganui, Manawatū, Palmerston North, Tararua and Horowhenua districts, and also some parts of the Taupō, Stratford and Waitomo districts.

The rates database holds the information we use to set and assess rates. It is a record of every property in the region. Each property is also known as a "rating unit".

You can search this data online at any time. To view the full RID, which includes name and address details, please visit our offices during business hours. Bulk collection of names and addresses is not allowed.

We can send you a name suppression form to complete so we can remove your details. You can also download a copy of the suppression form. This suppression needs to be applied for each year. Please note that no names or postal addresses show in the rates search tool on our website.

Horizons has certain responsibilities mandated from Central Government. Council also actively consults with our communities through the Long-term and Annual Plan processes to ensure we represent the wishes of our ratepayers, and utilise ratepayers’ money in ways the community will benefit the most from.

Based on the work programmes planned for the year, an additional $5.7 million in rates revenue is required for Council to continue doing its core business. This equates to a 8.8% total rate increase across the region for the 2025-26 financial year.

No. It’s important to note that the average rate increase does not mean the same for everyone’s rates. This variance is because Palmerston North, has recently seen changes in property valuations. It’s also important to note that other areas in our region may see a rates decrease for this very same reason. Targeted rates for activities such as river management schemes and passenger transport services also mean your rates invoice may differ from your neighbour’s or those in neighbouring districts.

Council is aware that rates increases aren’t ideal and has worked hard to ensure the increase doesn’t exceed what was already forecast, particularly at a time when things such as inflation and insurance costs are high. Unfortunately, these are the things that affect Horizons too. The 8.8% can be broken down like this:

• 3.8% for increased 'business as usual' costs.
• 2.2% for biodiversity and biosecurity improvements (e.g. more possum control).
• 1.3% for more river and drainage scheme maintenance and repair work.
• 1.6% for public transport improvements.

Yes, councillors always consider affordability. However, they also recognised the Council’s need to continue doing its core business, while accommodating for increasing costs.

Council adopted its Long-Term Plan for 2024-34 last year. In it, it signalled the rates increase for 2025-26 would be 12%. They then consulted on a rates increase of 11.3%, before settling on the 8.8% increase.

This was done by making savings on insurances, not establishing many new roles signalled in the Long-Term Plan, and using reserves where possible.

Regional councils’ general rates may be made on either a land value or capital value basis. Horizons rates calculations are based on a property's capital value
 
Other councils in our area (and the rating system they use):

• Palmerston North City Council         Land Value/Capital Value
• Manawatū District Council               Capital Value
• Whanganui District Council              Land Value
• Horowhenua District Council            Land Value
• Tararua District Council                    Land Value
• Ruapehu District Council                  Capital Value
• Rangitīkei District Council                Capital Value
• (Part) Waitomo District Council        Capital Value
• (Part) Taupō District Council            Capital Value
• (Part) Stratford District Council        Capital Value

All properties in the region are re-valued on a three-yearly cycle. If your property has been re-valued this year, the value on which your property is rated will have changed. For example if your rates were previously calculated on a capital value of $300,000, however your property has been re-valued to $327,000, then your rates will have been calculated on the $327,000 this time.

We recognise that setting rates based on capital value is not ideal. However, it is the blunt tool that we have inherited. Ideally, all of our seven districts would be revalued at the same time to avoid one or two districts being affected more than its neighbours in any one year. Unfortunately, QV do not have the capacity to do this.

District and city councils revalue at different times across the region. These revaluations affect the capital value of properties and, therefore, how much general rate they pay. Each year we get an equalisation certificate from Quotable Value that shows the value of all districts as at the last revaluation date. This information is used to equally spread the rates allocated by capital value across the districts.
 

Each rates invoice is made up of a combination of charges.

Uniform Charges are the same amount for every ratepayer across the region and include things such as enviromental initiatives.

Other Common Rates are the same activity charged for every ratepayer but at a slightly different rate for each district. These are based on a property's captial value.

There are property specific rates that are charged based on the type, size and location of the property and are a combination of capital value, targeted and area based charges that can differ from property to property and neighbour to neighbour. 

On average an estimated 60% of the total rates invoice is based on captial value, however again this varies for every ratepayer within the region. 

Other factors that can effect a rates invoice include specific district rating inputs, such as an urban passenger transport rate, or special river protection rates. For example, this could include river management flood protection schemes, passenger transport services including total mobility services, pest plant and animal control and biodiversity enhancement.

The UAGC funds a large range of activities that benefit every ratepayer equally. It is a fixed rate that is applied to every rateable property in the region. The UAGC in 2025-26 is set at $50.57 per SUIP.

A SUIP is a Separately Used or Inhabited Part of a rating unit and is only recognised when there is a unique valuation number for that part of the rating unit. A SUIP could be applied to a property more than once in a situation such as having multiple dwellings.

This is a fixed rate applied to ratepayers who benefit from a specific type of work. It is not assessed on capital value like the other general rate. Uniform annual charges per Separately Used or Inhabited Part (SUIP) of a rating unit throughout the region include:

• Sustainable Land Use Initiative (SLUI) 
• Environmental initiatives
• For Palmerston North and Manawatū properties - Tōtara Reserve our only regional park.

Tōtara Reserve is a regional park in the Manawatū District that sits in the foothills of the Ruahine Ranges in the Pohangina Valley. Many people use it as a recreational area and it's a valuable piece of native bush (and the only regional park) in the Horizons Region. We took over management from Manawatū District Council in 2012 and continue to enhance its forest and wildlife, and improve camping facilities, tracks and signage.

Old Man’s Beard has been identified as a particular problem by the local Rangitīkei community and as result a Differentiated Uniform Annual Charge of $37.58 has been applied to properties over four hectares in size and a $9.72 charge for those under four hectares.

For a full list of classifications, please refer to our Long-term or Annual Plan, which can be found on our website, or at any of our service centres for a hard copy to read.

If you would like to check your specific property and the rate classifications, please use our rates search tool by entering your property's address or valuation number.

The river management team at Horizons is responsible for maintaing the river and drainage systems in the region to minimise erosion and ensure optimum flood protection for our communities. 

Flood resilience is funded through general and scheme rates based on the amount of protection benefit each ratepayer receives. Horizons currently manages 34 River and Drainage Schemes across our region, maintains over 500km of stopbanks, 509 floodgates, over 800 km of river channel, and more than 1,100 km of drains.

A Scheme Rate varies according to the benefit received from stop banks, pump stations, drainage systems and other flood protection facilities. The higher the risk of flooding to your property, the higher the rate you pay as you receive greater benefit from the protection facilities. If you live further from a waterway, you still pay for the benefits of flood-protected roads, shops and services, but at a lower rate.

The LMS rating system was adopted in June 2009. Since the rate has been applied, there have been a few changes to ensure we’re rating those affected fairly. These changes include:
 

• All those rural houses that receive flood protection from the LMS but where the depth of inundation in a 100-year flood would be less than 50 mm have been exempted from the HF rate.
• The Feilding urban flood protection rating boundary has been modified to include an area immediately to the North of Feilding that is presently being developed as an extension to the urban area. By being shifted into the urban category, houses in that extension area will no longer pay the HF rate, but will now pay the lesser Feilding urban (FG) rate.
• The Palmerston North urban flood protection rating boundary has been modified to include an area to the west of the City between Longburn-Rongotea/Shiriffs Road and the Mangaone Stream and between No. 1 Line and the Manawatū River. That area is rapidly developing as an extension to the present City urban area. By being shifted into the urban category, houses in that developing area will no longer pay the HF rate but will now pay the lesser Palmerston North urban (PN) rate.

 
All other rural houses will continue to be rated in the HF category.

In 2020 Central Government announced $26.9 million of climate resilience funding for Horizon. This goes toward four projects in:
 

• Foxton: enlargement and upgrades to drains, culverts and stopbanks along the eastern side of the town, and diverting floodwater away from Purcell Street and into the Whirokino network.
• Lower Manawatū: raising/rebuilding stopbanks, replacing the Kopane Bridge and constructing the Burke's Pump Station.
• Palmerston North: upgrades to current stopbanks and replacing aging assets, along with new work to enhance public access to the Manawatū River and Mangaone Stream.
• Rangitīkei: building resilience as it relates to the Rangitīkei River, specifically the reach from the Bulls Bridge to the sea.

 
These projects were largely complete by the end of the 2024-25 financial year. Find out more in the Flood Protection section of the website.

Led by Horizons, the Manawatū River Leaders’ Accord brings together leaders from community, industry, interest groups, iwi and local government in their efforts to improve the state of the Manawatū River and its catchment. It enables groups to work in partnership with one another, sets clear goals and provides accountability around clean-up actions and activities. Horizons is committed to contributing $8.51 per separately used or inhabited part of a rating unit this year to this clean-up effort under the Manawatū River Leaders’ Accord. This is funded by ratepayers in the Manawatū Catchment. More information about this work can be found at www.manawaturiver.co.nz.

Our region’s problems with hill country erosion were sorely exposed during the February 2004 storm event. In response, representatives from our region’s communities and stakeholder organisations have joined together and formed the Sustainable Land Use Initiative (SLUI), which seeks to implement whole farm plans specifically tailored to manage each area of highly erodible land. The aim is to help insure against having to recover from the effects of massive-scale hill erosion in the future. This assists in preventing the silting up of rivers downstream, helping to reduce flooding, and improving water quality.

Find out more in the Flood protection section of the Horizons website.

The management of freshwater remains a priority for Horizons, with a particular focus on implementing central government’s Essential Freshwater package. 
 
For Horizons, this has involved various rounds of engagement, and working with tangata whenua and other stakeholders, before notifying a change to the One Plan, our guide to managing natural resources in our region.  Notification was scheduled to happen in 2024. However, central government changes mean this is now due by the end of 2027. We decided at a full council meeting in April 2024 to postpone notification until late 2026/early 2027, but we will notify earlier if practicable.
 
We know central government is making further changes to these regulations. These changes are partly why we did not bring on some new roles, which helped to bring the average rates increase down. However, much of the work done under the Oranga Wai | Our Freshwater Future banner will be required for reviewing the One Plan - something we have to do.

You can learn more about this work here.
 

The River and Drainage Scheme rates presented to Council initially were not entirely correct. This was due to a step to accurately calculate the special rating areas (SRAs) not being completed.
 
The total amount of funding that Council approved on 24 June remains the same, and the total amount of funding within each scheme remains the same but the distribution of the rates within scheme categories has been updated.
 
This does not affect all rates only those that pay a river and drainage scheme rate.
 
Because this error was found early enough, we have been able to fix this before rates invoices are sent out.
 

Any error in the rates process is not ideal and the teams involved have worked hard to not only correct the mistake but also refine and strengthen systems and processes going forward.
 
The unit rates set for river and drainage schemes were incorrect. As these rates are also detailed within the Funding Impact Statement of the 2025-26 Annual Plan, the Annual Plan also contains incorrect information. As a result, based on legal advice, an extra meeting was called for 29 July to correct this error.
 
Because we caught this error early, we’ve been able to fix this before rates invoices are sent out.
 

No, because we found this error before the rates invoices were sent out, we were able to avoid complications that could arise had we not discovered this earlier.
 

The error was related to a specific step that was unique to a targeted rate. The rest of the application of rates was untouched by this step. However, while every year approximately 1,000 properties are chosen at random to be manually checked for accuracy, we have undertaken significantly more manual checks this year to ensure that invoices are correct.
 

Councillors’ contact information is available in the About section of our website.

Please email the communications team at communications@horizons.govt.nz and someone will be in touch shortly.