Rose Keller's rates have risen 113% since she purchased the historic Port Stables building on the town's main street in 1995.
She listed all the payments in a submission to the Dunedin City Council's annual plan hearings this week, although she chose not to appear before the committee in person.
She told the Otago Daily Times yesterday she was getting less for her rates now than she was in 1995.
"I used to get a free rubbish collection. Now, I have to pay for my rubbish bags."
Mrs Keller (65) said her rates increases were unreasonable and did not make sense.
"They wouldn't make sense, even if it was Auckland... We should all start a campaign for rates to be more reasonable. My income is still the same as it was in 1995."
Mrs Keller, who lives at the rear of the 141-year-old building, pays non-residential (commercial) rates on her property.
She operated the Port Stables restaurant for about four years, then leased the space to tenants.
The council's rating policy rates commercial properties three times as much for general rates as households per dollar of rateable value.
That, too, was unreasonable, she said.
"The council is making it virtually impossible for small businesses to prosper. The council should be doing all it can to encourage [us]."
Mrs Keller is considering having her building classified residential, rather than commercial.
It would slash her rates bills by about half but would mean she would not be able to lease out the stables space again.
That is something she isprepared to live with.
"Having such high rates forces me to do it. It's not worth trying to run a business."
