18113 (2026). Tangi Utikere to the Minister of Local Government

18113 (2026). Tangi Utikere to the Minister of Local Government: What are the most recent local government rates increase projections that have been shared with or provided to the Minister, if any, broken down by date and council?

Hon Simon Watts: As the Minister of Local Government, I received local government rates increase projections through a Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) that informed Cabinet decisions on rates capping in late 2025. The projections were drawn from councils’ 2024 Long Term Plans (LTPs). No other local government rates increase projections have been shared with or provided to me. The RIS did not provide projections broken down by individual council or by date. Rather, it presented aggregated projections based on the 2024 LTP data to support policy analysis. This was proactively released at the end of last year and is publicly available at: www.dia.govt.nz/diawebsite.nsf/Files/Proactive-Releases-2025-26/$file/Rates-capping-RIS-December-2025.pdf