Your rates explained
As your regional council, Horizons is dedicated to safeguarding the natural environment, supporting resilient communities, and managing the region’s resources responsibly. The rates you contribute are essential to delivering the services and infrastructure that underpin our collective well-being – now and into the future.
Your rates help us
Resilience
Invest in flood resilience, erosion control, and emergency response planning to help communities adapt to more frequent and severe weather events.
Management
Manage key regional assets such as river management infrastructure, public transport networks, and environmental monitoring systems that support both safety and sustainability.
Sustainability
Support sustainable land management practices that protect soil health, reduce sedimentation in waterways, and enhance biodiversity across our landscapes.
This work is critical to maintaining the health of our environment, the strength of our economy, and the safety of our communities. Every dollar you contribute through rates is an investment in a more resilient, sustainable, and thriving region. Thank you to those who took the time to provide submissions to this year’s Annual Plan. Council took all feedback in mind when considering where to prioritise the budget for the upcoming year.
This year, the total rate increase across the region will be 8.8%. While this figure serves as an overall indicator, individual rate increases will vary from district to district and from neighbour to neighbour. These variations depend on factors such as river schemes, biosecurity, passenger transport services, and recent changes to property values, particularly in Palmerston North where revaluations have been recently completed.
We understand that any increase in rates could be challenging for some households. That’s why we’ve worked hard to strike a careful balance – ensuring we can continue delivering the essential services and long-term projects our region needs, while keeping affordability front of mind.
Below, you’ll find:
an explanation of how our rating system works, and
highlights of key work programmes and initiatives happening across the region.
Thank you for your contribution towards caring for our vast and varied region. Together, we’re investing in a safer, more sustainable future for our region.
Your rates explained
How are rates decided?
We’re working across all our region’s seven districts to make our place a healthy environment where people thrive. To achieve this, we have identified key priority areas and community outcomes to guide us.
Our priority areas are:
Building resilience to the impacts of climate change.
Strengthening partnerships with tangata whenua.
A holistic approach, from the mountains to the sea (integrated catchment management).
Connecting people and place through effective public transport connections.
Budgets are then determined by what’s required to achieve Council’s goals. Factors such as revaluations and inflation also play a role.
While the region’s overall rate increase is 8.8%, individual rates will vary depending on property revaluations and specific regional council services provided to each property.
This means every year the districts that have property revaluations contribute more to the pool of revenue needed. However, over time this balances out as every district goes through the revaluation process at some point. This year, residents in Palmerston North can expect their rates to reflect recent property revaluations.
How rating works per property
Each property will have different rates depending on where you live and the services you receive. Your rates invoice is made up of targeted rates, common rates and general rates.
Targeted rates are the ones that relate to certain work being undertaken in your area, but not somewhere else. For example:
Ruapehu – the district-wide river scheme to protect people and property.
Whanganui – increased levels of service on the public transport network to provide wider coverage of the city, more frequently.
Rangitīkei – ongoing management of the pest plant Old Man’s Beard which is a threat to native biodiversity.
Manawatū – management, including pest control and biodiversity, of Tōtara Reserve Regional Park, our region’s only Regional Park.
Palmerston North – improvements in flood resilience through the lower Manawatū Scheme to keep people and property safe.
Tararua – district-wide river and drainage scheme for maintenance and improvements to flood resilience assets to protect productive land.
Horowhenua – Arawhata wetland construction to improve water quality of Punahau Lake Horowhenua, and Waikawa Beach dune restoration.
Common rates also known as Uniform Annual General Charge, are charged out the same for all properties across the region. These go towards:
The Sustainable Land Use Initiative (SLUI) which improves water quality and flood resiliance for the whole region.
Environmental initiatives which part-fund biodiversity and biosecurity work that benefits everyone.
Finally, general rates are also applied to all properties but are calculated off capital value.
Horizons receives its income from a number of sources including grants and subsidies, investment income, user fees and charges, loans and reserves, and rates.
Understanding the rate increase
Council has worked hard to keep rates increases to a minimum. Savings have been made to insurances and the number of additional positions proposed in Year 2 (2025-26) of the 2024-34 Long-term Plan reduced considerably. Council has also used reserves where possible to help keep the rates impact down.
Based on the work programmes planned for the year, an additional $5.7 million in rates revenue is what’s required for Council to continue to do its core business. This equates to an 8.8% total rate increase across the region for the 2025-26 financial year. As part of Council focussing on prioritising core business, the total rate increase has been made up from a number of conservative increases including:
Additional funding for possum control operations which cover more than 1.5 million hectares or about 75% of the region.
River management and drainage maintenance and repair work.
Additional funding for biodiversity work through the Horizons Priority Habitats programme.
Additional funding for pest plant management including Old Man’s Beard.
Mapping to understand highly productive land in the region.
Increased levels of service for Whanganui public transport.
A handful of roles to support our emergency management, policy, science and compliance functions.
As we’ve noted elsewhere in this publication, your individual rates invoice may differ to this total rate increase as rates change between districts and neighbours. This is because some areas have targeted rates for activities such as public transport or flood resilience.
What every $1 of general rates is spent on
Search property rates
Welcome to the Horizons Regional Council Rating Information Database. To view rating details for a property, enter either the property address (excluding the town/city) or the valuation number and hit the 'Search' button.
Pay Property Rates
There are several ways to pay, allowing you to select the option that best suits. These options are also listed on the back of your rates invoice. If you’d rather receive your invoice by email in the future, that’s not a problem. In your invoice you will find a unique code (and a link) you can use to sign up online.
Policies on Remissions and Postponements
Our polices on rates remissions and postponements are set out in the Long-term Plan, the policy is outlined on this page with corresponding forms.
Frequently asked questions
Who decides Horizons' activities?
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.
Have rates changed this year?
TBC
Is the rate increase the same for everyone?
No, it's important to note that the average rate increase does not mean the same for everyone's rates.
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.
Why have you increased rates when the cost of living is so high?
Council is aware that rates increases aren't ideal and has worked hard to ensure the increase has not increased beyond 5%. Inflation and insurance costs are high and unfortunately these are things that affect Horizons too.
Was any consideration given to a lower rates increase?
Yes, councillors always consider affordability. However, they also recognised the Council’s need to continue doing its core business, while accommodating for increasing costs.
What are rates calculations based on?
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
Revaluations
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.
What is meant by equalisation?
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.
What do the charges on my invoice mean?
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.
What is a Uniform Annual General Charge (UAGC)?
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.
What is a 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.
What is a Uniform Annual Charge (UAC)?
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.
Why am I rated for river and drainage schemes?
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.
What is a river or drainage scheme rate? How are they calculated?
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.
Why does Horizons put out a rates brochure with the invoice?
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.
Why do I get a rates invoice from my city/district council and Horizons?
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.
Where can I find out about rates classifications
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.
What is a river or drainage scheme rate? How are they calculated?
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.
Why do I pay a House Flood (HF) rate ($683) when my neighbours don’t and we both pay rates towards the Lower Manawatū Scheme (LMS)?
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.
What is the Manawatū River Leaders' Accord?
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.
What is the Sustainable Land Use Initiative (SLUI)?
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.