TCDC's Mayor Revell: 'Future rates rises will be as low as possible'
Published on 05 December 2025
Thames-Coromandel Mayor Peter Revell has welcomed the government’s move away from a hard rates cap to a 2–4% target range, saying it reinforces the clear message ratepayers have sent and the commitment the council has already made.
“People have told us very clearly that rates have been rising too quickly, and we have taken that on board,” says Mayor Revell. “My commitment — and now this council’s commitment — is to keep future increases as low as possible so that we honour the promises made to our community and meet the expectations the government has now set.”
The new policy, to be phased in between 2027 and 2029, includes core services such as roads, bridges and public transport for the first time.
“The move to a target range gives councils a clear and workable framework,” Mayor Revell says. “It supports the direction we are already taking and provides the discipline needed to ensure rates remain affordable over the long term.”
Council has already shown it is serious: the proposed 7.7% increase for the 2026/27 financial year in the Long Term Plan has been halved, with a target cap of 3.8% set for the 2026/27 year, which is within the government’s proposed threshold.
Mayor Revell is upfront that staying inside 2–4% long-term will require real change.
“Living within a tight range long-term won’t be easy and will require real change — some of it challenging for our organisation and parts of our community,” he says. “We will make those changes because delivering critical services at an affordable price is what ratepayers have every right to expect.”
The district continues to face genuine cost pressures — summer population surges, around 50% non-resident property owners, and large areas of rate-exempt government-owned land — and some past increases have been driven by the sharp rise in construction and materials costs.
“Some of the large increases we’ve seen in recent years have been driven by genuine external cost pressures — construction and materials costs have skyrocketed, and our summer population surge is real,” Mayor Revell says. “We will keep explaining those factors, including questioning the appropriateness of funding based solely on resident population numbers which does not take into account the service demands of peak tourist and summer population surges. But the bottom line is clear: we must still deliver core services and keep future rises inside the new target range.”
During the consultation period, which runs until February 2026, our council will provide constructive feedback that highlights these pressures and asks central government to act as an enabler — helping councils continue to deliver essential services without breaking the affordability threshold.
“Our community expects rates to be kept as low as possible while still protecting the essential services we all rely on,” Mayor Revell says. “We have already started that work with next year’s cap, and we will keep working constructively with government to make the longer-term target a practical reality for Thames-Coromandel.”