The amount of Dunedin City Council rates owed from last year has risen slightly, as anecdotal evidence shows some people are struggling to pay.
Rates still unpaid this year are also up marginally.
Some of the shortfall is from the 71 people refusing to pay the part of their rates that would go towards the Forsyth Barr Stadium, but the council is not planning to follow the Otago Regional Council's lead and issue letters threatening to call in debt-collection agencies.
The rises are small, and city council finance and corporate support general manager Athol Stephens said yesterday there was no "pronounced trend".
But rates in arrears - those still unpaid from last year - rose to $709,900 or 0.6% for October, up from 0.4% in October last year, a report to the finance and strategy committee said.
Rates owing - unpaid so far this year - hit $18 million, or 16.3%, up from $12.8 million in October last year.
Mr Stephens said the rises were not yet a cause for concern.
"I hear from staff there is a little bit of anecdotal evidence some people are struggling."
Asked about the issue yesterday, council financial controller Maree Clarke said the anecdotal evidence was coming from discussions the council's arrears officer was having with people late with their rates.
"They're juggling their priorities," she said.
The level of rates in arrears was still low - less than half that of most other Otago councils in the last financial year.
The rise in rates owing probably reflected the timing of payments, and the rise in the rates base this year, she said.
Mr Stephens told the meeting "at the last count" the number of people withholding rates, and citing the stadium, was 71.
In May, council senior financial accountant David Yates told the Otago Daily Times 104 people had cancelled their direct debits, with the stadium given as the reason, though the exact figure had been difficult to calculate, as it was not always known why people did not pay their rates.
The council had sent letters "explaining the situation in a friendly sort of way".
"We haven't written anything quite as blunt as the regional council."
It would not begin enforcement, or issuing penalties, until the end of the financial year, and those withholding rates would be treated the same as any others with rates arrears.
