Far North council says "talk to us"

Signs are beginning to emerge of the impact of tougher economic times in the Far North.

Arrears in rate payments are increasing and are now running at around $4 million above the same time last year. This trend appears to mirror increasing debt levels in the private sector resulting from the current economic climate.

The level of rate arrears is evenly split between land in general title and land in Maori freehold title.

"People appear to be getting deeper and deeper into debt to a point at which they simply cannot see a way forward –hoping that if they ignore the problem it may somehow go away," Revenue & Policy Manager Chris Ellington said today.

"But when it comes to rates, ignoring a growing level of arrears simply makes matters worse.

"In many cases a substantial proportion of the accumulated rate deficit is penalties added for non-payment. We are prepared to write off penalties and to provide easier payment options provided people make contact with us and are prepared to make a commitment to work towards getting the account up-to-date.

"The real answer is to make contact with the council as soon as possible –before the penalties start to compound and matters get out of control. We have a team of experienced officers who are trained to help find confidential payment solutions and to work one-on-one with those responsible for rate payments to ease the way forward," he said.

The underlying problem for the community was that for every dollar of unpaid rates, an equivalent amount had to be raised from some other source. The reality was those who were meeting their rates commitments were subsidising those in default.

Mr Ellington said the council in recent years had been taking a pro-active approach to rate arrears through a Rates Easy Pay system which provided a variety of payment options.

"More and more each year are seeking to use the Easy Pay scheme which is good for all parties. But it is also indicative that things are getting tougher out there. The message we want to get across is – talk to us and in most cases we should be able to find a less painful way forward," he said.