Whakatāne ratepayers will notice a change to their rates collection from July when, for the first time since 1989, both Whakatāne District Council and Bay of Plenty Regional Council will send separate rates invoices. 

From 1 July 2022 (the 2022/23 financial year), Bay of Plenty Regional Council will be taking responsibility for regional rates collection and will be invoicing ratepayers directly. 

This means Whakatāne ratepayers will no longer pay the Regional Council portion of their rates to Whakatāne District Council, instead they will pay them directly to the Regional Council. 

The Regional Council is making the change to provide more clarity to ratepayers as to what their Regional Council rates pay for and to highlight the work the Regional Council does in the region.

Whakatāne District Council invoicing and collection for district rates will remain unchanged with four quarterly instalments.

Ratepayers will receive one invoice from Bay of Plenty Regional Council in late August – which will be due for payment on 20 October.

If you already receive your Whakatāne District Council rates invoice by email you don’t need to do anything, as this information will be carried over to the Regional Council. If you don’t currently receive your rates invoice by email but would like to, you can sign up at boprc.govt.nz/rates, otherwise your rates invoice will be delivered by post. You can also sign up to receive your Whakatāne District Council rates by email at whakatane.govt.nz/services/do-it-online.

If you are already signed up to pay for your rates by direct debit this will continue for your Whakatāne District Council rates only. You will need to sign up for a new direct debit payment for Regional Council rates boprc.govt.nz/rates. 

If you require further information, please email rates@boprc.govt.nz.