Waste Minimisation Act 2008

Waste disposal levy - Distribution and spending of levy money

31: Territorial authorities to receive share

You could also call this:

"Councils get a fair share of waste levy money based on their population"

Illustration for Waste Minimisation Act 2008

The Secretary has to pay each territorial authority some of the total levy money collected in a financial year. You get a share based on a formula that uses the amount of levy money collected, the amount refunded, and the population of your district compared to the total population. The Secretary must pay your territorial authority's share in a certain way and at certain times.

The formula to work out your territorial authority's share is: take the levy money collected, subtract the levy money refunded, divide that by 2, and then multiply it by the population of your district divided by the total population. This helps make sure each territorial authority gets a fair share of the levy money.

Your territorial authority's share is also subject to section 33, which has more details about how this works.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM1154599.

This page was last updated on 30 September 2025 — View changes

Topics:

Environment and resources > ConservationEnvironment and resources > Waste managementGovernment and voting > Local councilsMoney and consumer rights > Taxes

30: Secretary must distribute and spend levy money, or

"The government collects levy money and uses it to help the environment and manage waste."

32: Spending of levy money by territorial authorities, or

"How councils can use levy money to reduce waste"

Part 3Waste disposal levy
Distribution and spending of levy money

31Territorial authorities to receive share

The Secretary must pay each territorial authority a share of the total levy money collected in respect of a financial year.
A territorial authority’s share is calculated using the following formula:
$territorial authority’s share = [(levy collected − levy refunded) ÷ 2] × (district’s population ÷ total population)$

Where:
The territorial authority’s share must be paid to the territorial authority in the prescribed manner and at the prescribed times.
This section is subject to section 33.