A council mistake in calculating direct debits has landed more than 300 Tararua ratepayers with unexpected bills.
Neville Te Wake said his mother, who lives in the Tararua district, received a letter on Friday which said she owed more than $4000 in rates arrears.
As a pensioner, the bill came as a shock, leaving her in tears, Te Wake said.
A Tararua council agenda for a meeting on Wednesday said a faulty process had been followed for recalculating direct debit payments for some of its ratepayers.
The error impacted 602 households who paid rates using direct debit and were eligible for a rates rebate.
This included pensioners.
Of these households, 281 had overpaid their rates since 2018, and 321 had underpaid their rates.
The amount overpaid was $146,758, which the council would reimburse.
The amount underpaid was $400,340 which the council would recover from the ratepayers.
Mayor Tracey Collis said the council was “deeply sorry” for the impact of the error, especially in difficult economic times.
“We take full responsibility and, as mayor, I want to offer a heartfelt personal apology.”
The error was caused by a systems failure, where council’s rates rebates process was not lined up with the direct debit system.
Incorrect direct debits had accumulated since 2018.
“We are doing a full and thorough investigation to find out how this faulty process occurred and to put a robust process in place to make sure the error can never happen again in the future,” Collis said.
A rates remission policy would soon go out for consultation.
It would allow impacted ratepayers to apply to the council to have part or all of their rates arrears postponed to a future date or event, without any penalties or interest accumulating.
“We are offering impacted households the option to defer payment until their house is sold or goes into trust, no matter whether that is months or decades into the future,” Collis said.
The feedback period on the policy would run from September 27 to October 20.
People could either pay the amount in full or set up a payment plan with the council.
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