Pookeno community updates

Council’s total interest is forecast to be 4.98% of total revenue in the 2025/2026 year, dropping to 2.98% for 2026/2027 (more information can be found on p.g. 114 of the Long Term Plan).   

Total revenue has been used as opposed to rates, as rates only account for one portion of Council’s total revenue (approximately 68% of total revenue).  Development contributions, fees and charges, grants and subsidies are all also used to fund capital works, therefore using total revenue provides a more accurate picture of the Council’s ability to service debt. This aligns with how the Local Government Funding Agency, Treasury and other credit rating agencies usually assess Council’s debt and interest affordability.   

Council views debt as a smoothing mechanism, and a means of achieving equity between time periods. Borrowing is not generally used to fund operating expenses but is used as a tool to spread / distribute major investment costs across a longer time period.

A council’s rates model is the tool that connects the budget with how rates are charged. Each year the council sets its budget through the Long-Term Plan or Annual Plan, and the total that needs to be collected from rates is worked out after allowing for other income such as fees, subsidies and grants. That figure becomes the “rates requirement.” 
 
The model then applies the council’s Revenue and Financing Policy, which sets out who pays what share. It uses rules for general rates, targeted rates, and fixed charges such as the Uniform Annual General Charge. 
 
Property data from the district’s rating roll is then loaded in, including capital values and property categories. The model spreads the rates requirement across this base, calculating bills for every property by applying the agreed rules. This ensures the total collected matches the budget requirement and complies with rating law. 
 
The model also allows scenarios to be tested, showing the impact of different policy choices or budget levels on households  

For the 2025/2026 rating year, Council’s General Rates increased by 4.25%, and Total Rates when including Targeted Rates increased by a range of 4.5% - 11%.   

Note: different properties can attract different targeted rates depending on the services provided to an area. 

Individual rate percentage changes within Pookeno varied based on the actual capital value, the services available and what targeted rates apply to that property. The targeted rates are applied based on the services that Council provides to individual properties. For example, a property in Pookeno valued at $940,000 had a rates increase of 9.52% (which included targeted rates). 

Above is a chart showing the rates changes for a median priced dwelling in Pookeno, over the last five years. 

The table below shows the percentage increases in CV across Waikato district. While all rates did increase, if your property had a higher CV percentage increase than the district average, your rates increase would be higher than those whose CV was lower than the district average. 

*the 2024/25 general rates increase was 11.9%, set through the Enhanced Annual Plan process. 

We can’t comment specifically on Auckland City Council rates increases.

As the cost of providing services rises, the total rates we need to collect also rises.   

Each year, Council sets its Annual Plan which determines how much money Council needs to collect to pay for services.  This total amount required to pay for services is what needs to be collected through rates. Property valuations are then used to decide how the total rates amount is shared across all properties in the district. Changes that are more or less than the average change across your region, could lead to a change in the rates you get charged.

A property with a higher capital value will pay a higher General Rate than a property with a lower capital valuation.  Some rates charges are fixed, for example the Uniform Annual General Charge, which is a set amount every property pays irrespective of the capital value.   

Valuations are made by Quotable Value (QV) and are influenced by property sales.  Valuation determines what a property owner’s share of the total rates bill is.   Valuations are done on a three year cycle, and are designed to make sure that what each property pays is proportionate to its value.

 The government has signalled intent on refocusing local government on providing core services. The definition for “core services” under the Local Government (System Improvements) Amendment Bill (which is not yet law) does not include many of the core services we currently provide such as: cemeteries, public toilets, animal control, consenting, certifying food premises, and alcohol licensing.    

The table below shows a breakdown of the 2025/26 rates and what is included in each group of activities. 

Targeted rates are a user pays or equity measure to collect costs.  

Targeted rates are charges that apply to specific services such as water supply, or to specific groups of properties, for example those in the vicinity of community facilities or halls, rather than being shared by everyone across the district.  

The aim of targeted rates is to try and ensure that only those using a public service are funding it. For example, those living in a rural area with self-sufficient water and wastewater won’t pay targeted rates for those services. 

You only pay the targeted rate if your property can access the service.   

If you live in central Pookeno, you’re likely to pay targeted rates for: 

A list of our targeted rates is provided on pages 108 and 109 of the Long Term Plan. 

The District Wide Waste Reserve moved into deficit as collection service costs increased (due to increasing contractor costs and landfill fees), which was not matched by increasing those same costs to ratepayers.  The long-standing hold on raising user pays costs through sticker prices (since 2018), together with significant increases to service costs, shifted the financial burden from a User Pays model to the District Wide Refuse Reserve, contributing to its current deficit.  The recent increase is a necessary step toward returning the District Wide Waste Reserve to a balanced position during the current Long Term Plan. 

The waste services Council provides are paid from a mix of targeted rate and user pays.  We deal with this income as one entity.   

Through the 2025-24 Long-Term Plan (LTP), Council has budgeted to bring the reserve out of deficit by 30 June 2029. Approximately 14.6% of the revenue collected from the targeted waste services rate charge and from the user pays (sticker and tags) fees over the next four years 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2029 is going towards clearing the deficit.  

With elected members supporting regular reviews of the pricing of our user pays system and the targeted rates, the plan is to keep this budget as close to a balanced position as possible, acknowledging Council doesn’t have control over the costs of fuel, labour, landfill gate fees and other costs.  Impacts of inflation will be addressed once they are better known.

As part of the current Long -Term Plan Council reviewed waste service options, and considered standardising waste services across the district using a bag for rubbish and recycling crates for recycling. As a result of the public consultation, Council then resolved to further engage with the Tuakau community regarding their kerbside collection method, and how that will be paid for, as part of the 2026 Annual Plan process.  

Pookeno residents have the same solid waste and recycling services as the rest of the district (excepting Raglan). To see more information, have a look at the website here. 

Council does not currently provide an option for people to opt out of a Targeted Rate.  If any household should wish to procure a private waste company to provide a wheelie bin service directly for their own requirements, they can. However, that does not affect the availability of the rubbish collection service to residents. The service is there for residents to put stickered rubbish bags and recycling out in front of their properties weekly so the targeted rate for rubbish and recycling will still be applied. 

Earthworks on the site will continue in the lead-up to Christmas. These works were originally scheduled for completion in November, but recent seasonal conditions have caused delays. 

Contractors are finalising the programme and resources to ensure progress as quickly as possible. While the full project will take a little longer than planned, a usable field will be delivered as soon as it is practical. 

Other dependencies include the Munro Road upgrade. This project will be extremely significant to enabling safe long-term access to the site and includes installation of a new roundabout, upgrading the one lane bridge to two lanes, widening of the road and increasing the size of the existing culverts under the road into the reserve, and installation of utilities infrastructure in conjunction with the roading works to ensure sustainable capacity of services for ongoing and future development with Pookeno.

Council is exploring solutions including pipe upgrades, new treatment options, and partnerships with industry, while also negotiating with Watercare for more capacity at the Pukekohe treatment plant. Responsibility for long-term services is shifting to the new water entity, IAWAI, and we are working closely with it so that Pookeno’s needs are prioritised. 

We are currently in discussions with a key stakeholder to progress a long-term solution. These discussions are being held confidentially as they involve commercially sensitive matters. However, by the end of the year, we expect to have more clarity on the overall project programme. 

The focus is on unlocking capacity as quickly, cost-effectively, and responsibly as possible so that growth can continue in a safe and sustainable way.  

In the interim, we are developing a swapping process to help alleviate some of the pressures caused by the current wastewater constraints. We are obtaining external legal advice on this mechanism, which is expected by early November. The intent of the process is to allow developers with existing consents or vacant lots to temporarily transfer their wastewater allocations between sites within the same catchment. 

Please feel free to reach out to our Infrastructure Development Advisors, if you would like any clarification or further detail. 

Whilst new growth may be limited in Pookeno and Tuakau, resource consents granted before February 2025 can continue to connect to the wastewater network. This will enable existing developments and subdivision to continue for a minimum of 5 years in Tuakau and Pookeno.

In order to respond to Antenno enquiries through the app, Council would need to pay for an upgrade to the system, and dedicate staff to doing so.  Currently, Council is using an automated system that provides updates on key progress and completion to events or projects that people sign up to.  

Council is investigating with the Antenno developers whether they can modify their system to allow answers back without human intervention. In the interim we are looking at bringing the Antenno reference number through to automatic messaging to help customers better track their requests.  

The average house in Pookeno will pay rates of $6,154.93 per annum.  We can’t provide total rates income for Pookeno alone, but can advise the rates invoiced for the Pokeno-Tuakau Ward.  For the 2025/2026 year we invoiced $33,067,490  ($28,754,339 – after GST) to ratepayers in the Pokeno-Tuakau Ward.    

Some spending on projects can be locally identified to the Pokeno-Tuakau Ward but a lot of spending comes out of district wide budgets.   Capital expenditure can often be ‘lumpy’.  An area like Pookeno may have a large investment one year and very little for the next year.  Therefore, the rates received for one area is often not proportionate to the spend in that area for the same year.  

More information relating to rates spending on each of Council’s significant activity areas (e.g., Transport, Water Supply, Sustainable Environments) can be found in Section 3 of our Long Term Plan, where each Activity has a Prospective Funding Impact Statement that outlines all sources of income and spending. 

It is also important to remember that it is not just rates income that funds expenditure and roading.  We also receive NZTA grants and development contributions.