5 September 2025
File Ref: IRC-9017
Pete Jones
[FYI request #32146 email]
Tēnā koe Pete,
Thank you for your email dated 28 August 2025 to Te Kaunihera o Pōneke | Wellington City Council
(the Council) requesting the fol owing information:
Please provide the following information for the rating years from 2020-2026:
1. Al documentation pertaining to the methodology used to calculate and issue demands for
rates for Wel ington property owners
2. Al Wel ington City Council internal communications including email, memos, briefings,
strategy documents, meeting agenda, meeting minutes, decision documents and any other
forms of internal communication related to item 1. above
3. Al communications to and from external and/or related parties such as government agencies,
other councils, consultants, central government and any other person or body external to
Wellington City Council as it relates to item 1. above.
4. Al statistics, reports, incident and SR management data and any related documents and
communications associated with ratepayer cal s and requests to Wel ington City Council's
service/help desk, by whatever means, on the subject of rates.
Your request has been considered under the Local Government Of icial Information and Meetings Act
1987 (LGOIMA).
With respect to questions one to three, you have asked for the fol owing information relating to the
methodology used to calculate rates and issue demands for rates over the course of five and a half
years:
• Al documentation
• Al internal
and external communications, including:
o Emails
o Memos
o Briefings
o Strategy documents
o Meeting agendas
o Meeting minutes
o Decision documents
o Al communications to external parties
To provide some context, this request covers a substantial and complex body of information.
Rates calculation and issuance is not a single-step process; it’s the culmination of a multi-year
planning and financial framework that includes:
• The
Long Term Plan, which outlines the
Revenue and Financing Policy (page 203) that sets
the principles for how Council activities are funded (e.g., rates, fees, grants).
• This then feeds into the Council’s
Funding Impact Statements (page 137), detailed
disclosures showing how each activity wil be funded, forming part of both the Long-Term
Plan a
nd Annual Plan.
• Which then informs budgeting and planning Council wide, operational and capital budgets are
developed based on the funding approach and strategic priorities.
• Which feeds into the Annual Plans which specify what wil be delivered each year and reflect
any changes from the Long-Term Plan.
• Both the Long-Term Plan and Annual Plan are consulted on with the community. As part of
this there are submission forms for feedback and public oral hearings from the community.
This feedback is presented to the Council for deliberations on finalising the Long-Term and
Annual Plans.
• Which ultimately leads to rates setting, the final step where councils formal y adopt rates
resolutions, applying the methodology to determine what each ratepayer is charged
Each year from 2020 onward involves its own set of documents, consultations, resolutions, and
financial models. In addition, any changes to legislation, valuation data, or council priorities during this
period would also influence the methodology.
I acknowledge that your request is specific to the methodology used to calculate and issue rates
demands. However, given the time frame involved, the request for
all information, and the process
outlined above, the scope of this request is substantial.
Providing “all information” would require compiling and reviewing multiple years of:
• Council
meeting minutes and resolutions
•
Policy documents
and consultation materials
• Financial models and rating tools
• Communications and explanatory materials issued to ratepayers, general enquiries, Elected
member Queries, external communications made by various teams across Council etc.
Much of this information is embedded within various council systems and is not held in a single
consolidated format.
With the above in mind your request is likely to be refused under section 17(f) of the LGOIMA due to
substantial manual col ation and research involved.
However, I have provided you with an overview and links to publicly available information where
applicable. Alongside this, t
he rates section on our website provide some information you might find of
interest, particularly the section on
how rates are calculated.
I encourage you to review the information provided and get in touch if there are specific components
of the rates calculation or issuance process you’re interested in. A more targeted request wil help us
identify and provide the most relevant information ef iciently.
Question 4 –
Al statistics, reports, incident and SR management data and any related documents
and communications associated with ratepayer calls and requests to Wellington City Council's
service/help desk, by whatever means, on the subject of rates.
Question four you have requested the following information related to ratepayer calls and requests to
the Council on the subject of rates:
• All statistics
• Al reports
• Al incident and SR (service request) management data
• Any related documents
• Any communications
Wel ington City Council | 2 of 3
For background, any incidents or requests reported by members of the public to the Council via
emailing [email address], our fixit app, or via telephone call to our Contact Centre, are logged within
our ticketing system called Freshservice.
Similar to questions one to three, this part of your request is also extremely broad. If you’re able to be
more specific as to the types of statistics or reporting you are seeking, this wil enable the team to
undertake a targeted search for information requested.
To give you an idea of the scope of information held, between the dates of 1 April 2020 (when the
Council moved to its ticketing system Freshservice) to 2 September 2025 a total of approximately
66,230 tickets has been logged to the Council’s rates team. To provide you with all data relating to
these tickets, including documentation and communications would be substantial collation.
To enable us to provide you with a timely response, and in accordance with our obligations under
section 17B of the LGOIMA, we wish to clarify if there is anything particular you require. If so, the
Council recommends refining your request to be for a narrower scope of information if possible.
Should the request not be refined, it is likely that the request wil be refused pursuant to section 17(f)
of the LGOIMA, as the information requested cannot be made available without substantial collection
or research.
Some suggestions of refinement are below:
• Is there any specific statistics that you are most interested in? For example, the number of
tickets raised, the number of tickets outstanding etc.
• Is there a specific ticket you are most interest in receiving information about? In the event
there is, and if it were to contain personal information about yourself, I’d encourage you to
reach out to vi
a [Wellington City Council request email] to be provided with this, noting the FYI
website is a public platform.
To enable us to meet our obligations under the LGOIMA, we would be grateful for your refinement
response as soon as possible, but by no later than 12 September. Please note, any clarification or
amendment of a request is considered to be a new request for the purpose of calculating the
maximum statutory timeframe for response as per section 13(7) of the LGOIMA.
If you require further information, please contact
[Wellington City Council request email].
Nāku noa, nā
Ol ie Marchant
Senior Advisor
Of icial Information & Privacy
Wellington City Council
Wel ington City Council | 3 of 3
