Selwyn District Council has confirmed how it will correct the General Rates overcharges identified earlier this year, with affected ratepayers receiving an automatic credit adjustment in instalment 4 of the 2025/26 rating year.

In February, Council advised the community of an issue in how General Rates were calculated for 2025/26, after updated property valuations supplied by Quotable Value (QV) were loaded into its rating system. While residents’ rates bills included the updated property valuations, the way in which the Council calculated the General Rate factor did not include the updated property valuation.

As a result, some ratepayers were charged more than they should have been, through instalments 1, 2, and 3 of the 2025/26 rating year.  Though the exact amount varies by property, most residential properties were overcharged by an average $85 for the full year, and rural properties, which generally experienced larger valuation increases, were overcharged by an average $500 for the full year.

At the time the error was found, Mayor Lydia Gliddon said the Council’s priority was transparency and fairness. “When something isn’t right, we need to front it, fix it, and make sure it doesn’t happen again.

“Residents deserve complete confidence in how their rates are set. Bringing in an independent review is the right step to confirm facts, correct the impact and give our community assurance that every step is being taken to fix the issue and put stronger safeguards in to prevent it happening again.”

Ratepayers do not need to take any action, as the adjustment will be made automatically to affected accounts. Instalment 4 will show a reduced amount to offset any earlier overcharge. Instalments 1, 2 and 3 will not change on invoices.

Interim Chief Executive Steve Gibling said the Council’s continued focus is on accuracy and restoring trust.

“Our team takes this matter extremely seriously. We acted quickly once the issue was identified and have brought in external experts to ensure every calculation is validated. I’m proud that we have been able to make the necessary corrections and credit adjustments for residents promptly and accurately.”

Invoices for instalment 4 will be sent out from Friday 24 April.

Last modified: 17 Apr 2026 9:41am