Local Government (Rating) Act 2002

Preliminary and key provisions - Key provisions - What kinds of rates may be set?

20A: Rating units of Māori freehold land used as a single unit

You could also call this:

"Using multiple pieces of Māori land together as one unit for rate payments"

If you are using two or more pieces of Māori freehold land together, you can ask your local council to treat them as one unit when they are working out your rates. The council must do this if you are using the land together and they are satisfied the pieces of land originally came from the same block of Māori freehold land. They can check the Māori Land Court records to see if the land shares a common name, which can be enough evidence that the pieces of land came from the same original block.

If the council is not sure if the pieces of land came from the same block, they can ask the Māori Land Court to decide, and they must do this if you request it. You can find out what is meant by a "block" of Māori freehold land by looking at section 4 of Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993. The council will use this information to help them make their decision about your rates.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS515228.


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"When you own two or more properties next to each other, they might be treated as one for rates."


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"Some council rates can't be more than 30% of the total rates collected each year."

Part 1Preliminary and key provisions
Key provisions: What kinds of rates may be set?

20ARating units of Māori freehold land used as a single unit

  1. A person actually using 2 or more rating units of Māori freehold land may apply to the local authority for 2 or more of the rating units to be treated as 1 unit for the purposes of a rates assessment.

  2. The local authority must treat the rating units as 1 unit for assessing a rate if—

  3. the units are used jointly as a single unit by the person; and
    1. the local authority is satisfied the units are derived from, or are likely to have been derived from, the same original block of Māori freehold land, meaning the first Māori land block that was held in an instrument of title and that included the land that became the rating units.
      1. For the purposes of subsection (2)(b), it is sufficient evidence that 2 or more rating units of Māori freehold land are derived from the same original block of Māori freehold land if the rating units share a name in common according to the permanent record of the Māori Land Court.

      2. If a local authority is not satisfied that the units are derived from, or are likely to have been derived from, the same block of Māori freehold land, the local authority—

      3. may apply to the Registrar of the Māori Land Court for a determination as to whether the rating units are derived from the same original block of Māori freehold land; and
        1. must do so on the request of the person actually using the units.
          1. In this section, block has the meaning set out in section 4 of Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993.

          Notes
          • Section 20A: inserted, on , by section 11 of the Local Government (Rating of Whenua Māori) Amendment Act 2021 (2021 No 12).