Opposing residents say their land should not dramatically increase in value until the rezoning is confirmed, but Quotable Value says it must look at proposed plan changes and how the market is responding.
QV’s current three-yearly rating valuations are in some plan change areas more than five times higher than they were for the previous three years.
An example is the 190ha Lincoln South land, now valued at $36 million, having increased from $6.6 million for the previous three-year period.
While the Lincoln South rezoning was adopted by the district council in June, it is now the subject of an appeal, so may never go ahead.
And while the farmer residents of the Lincoln South land have been on board with the rezoning application, in other areas residents have opposed plan changes.
They both submitted against PC79, which is yet to go to a hearing.
The couple on the 4ha block did not want to talk publicly as they take the district council to the Environment Court.
They are fighting against the huge increase to their land value, which initially climbed from $580,000 to $3.14 million.
The couple managed to get it reduced to $2.19 million after objecting to QV.
Their rates for this rating year, beginning July 1, were struck after the reduction. They have gone up 53 per cent, from $3128.80 to $4789.15.
John and Sue Sheaf on the 0.6ha block have seen their land value climb from $275,000 to $700,000.
Their rates have gone up 22 per cent, from $2399.95 for the 2021/2022 rating year to $2928.95 this year.
John said it begged the question of whether the district council would reduce their rates if the plan change was declined, and compensate them for higher rates paid.
"What’s going to happen to rates that have been put up a lot, are they going to refund them? I can’t see that happening,” Sheaf said.
Another couple objecting to a plan change is David and Fiona Lees on Trents Rd, Prebbleton.
They live in the Plan Change 68 area and unsuccessfully submitted against it.
PC68 was adopted by the district council and finalised just last month, more than one year after the QV valuations came into effect.
The Lees had an increase in land value from $640,000 to $3.03 million. This contributed to their rates almost doubling, from $2,574.45 to $5,016.95.
"I would have thought valuations are done on the actual situation rather than a proposed situation,” David said.
"Part of the audit requirement by the Office of the Valuer General – the independent statutory body responsible for valuation standards in New Zealand – is to look at district planning, including what is proposed publicly and how the market is reacting to those proposed changes,” Gibson said.
"Owners had a right to object to their new rating valuations, of which we received very few.”
In an emailed response to the Selwyn Times, district council group manager enabling services Kelvin Mason avoided the question of whether higher rates would be refunded if the land value came down again following an unsuccessful plan change.
"QV valuations reflect the market value of a property if it was to be put up for sale at the time,” Mason said.
"QV consider a wide range of factors in calculating the valuation of a property.
"That includes that the value of a property does increase when there’s a potential development opportunity, but that is not the only factor in establishing the property’s value,” he said.
