Low income homeowners are being reminded they can soften the blow of higher rates bills which begin this month.
Invoices for the first rates instalment for the new rating year will be hitting mail boxes in the lead up to a payment due date of August 20.
Bills are set to be higher as the district council introduced an 11.8 per cent average increase for this financial year, and Environment Canterbury an average 17.9 per cent increase.
The district council recently encouraged low-income households to apply for a rates rebate after increases to the qualifying threshold came into effect for this financial year.
The Rates Rebate Scheme is run by the government, and applications are processed by the district council.
This financial year the income abatement threshold rose from $30,000 to $31,510.
Business support group manager Leanne Macdonald said homeowners could get in touch with the district council’s customer services team if they were not sure whether they qualified.
She said the new threshold would help more low-income homeowners, including superannuitants and those on supported living benefits.
‘‘The level of rates refund will also depend on whether there are dependants living in the household.’’
In the 2023-2024 financial year, the district council processed 1023 residential rate rebates to the value of $678,692.12.
Macdonald said the district council also had a rates postponement scheme for homeowners 65 and over. This enabled the option for homeowners to postpone payment of all or a portion of their rates for their estate to take care of.
Information and application forms are on the district council’s website, at ashburtondc.govt.nz/rates, while the customer services phone number is 307-7700.
