Date: Thu, 04 Jun 2026 05:20:36 +0000
Subject: Re: RFS 4300912 - Rating valuation and rate-in-the-dollar data for non-rateable reclassifications
From: Joshua Riley <
[FYI request #34712 email]>
To: officialinformation <
[email address]>
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Thank you for your letter of 26 May 2026 regarding RFS 4300912.
I do not intend to reformulate this request. I ask that the Council make its decision on the request as framed. The statutory timeframe continues to run from the date my request was received (15 May 2026); absent a formal extension of time, the Council's decision is due on or before 15 June 2026. Your letter of 26 May is an invitation to reformulate, not a decision, and does not suspend that timeframe.
I set out below why the request can and should be granted, in whole or in substantial part, within that timeframe.
Items 2 and 3 — no collation burden
The general rate-in-the-dollar (item 2) and the targeted rates and fixed charges (item 3) for each year are figures the Council has already set and published in its annual rates resolutions and funding impact statements. Providing them involves no collation or research — it is a matter of transcribing a small number of published figures across five years. Section 17(f) cannot apply to this information, and I expressly asked for partial release of anything readily available. Please release items 2 and 3 now, irrespective of the Council's position on item 1.
Item 1 — the section 17(f) claim is not made out
The “more than 2,600 non-rateable accounts” figure does not reflect what I have asked for. I have requested a single aggregate land-value figure for a defined subset — the rating units that became non-rateable on or after 1 July 2021 by reason of the Local Government (Rating of Whenua Māori) Amendment Act 2021 (with a Māori-freehold-land cut if available, and a broader figure as a fallback). The great majority of the Council's non-rateable accounts are non-rateable for reasons unrelated to that Act — for example Crown land, reserves, places of worship and schools — so the relevant population is materially smaller than 2,600.
The Council has, moreover, already identified this population. In its response to RFS 4297310 it reported “non-rateable write offs” by year, including approximately $10,197,528 in 2021 — the write-off of arrears on land made non-rateable by the 2021 Amendment Act. The Council could not have made those write-offs without identifying the affected rating units. The land values for those units are held in the Council's rating information database. Summing a land-value field across a defined subset is a database report, not “substantial collation or research.”
I also note an inconsistency in the Council's position. The annual revenue forgone (item 4 of RFS 4297310) was refused under section 17(g) on the basis that the Council does not hold it. I have therefore asked only for the inputs from which that figure can be derived. The Council's reliance now on section 17(f) — rather than 17(g) — confirms that those inputs are in fact held; the only question is the effort to extract item 1, and that effort has not been substantiated.
Fallback already built in
If the Council cannot readily isolate the units reclassified specifically on or after 1 July 2021, my request already accepts a fallback: the equivalent figure for all rating units that became non-rateable by reason of the 2021 Amendment Act. If even that distinction is not held, I would accept, as a reasonable proxy, the total land value (and count) of all rating units currently classified as both Māori freehold land and non-rateable — a single sum of a field already held. Please treat this as the maximum refinement I am willing to make; it requires no examination of individual accounts.
If burden is still asserted, please substantiate it
If the Council maintains that item 1 cannot be provided without substantial collation, please provide — as Ombudsman guidance on section 17(f) contemplates — a specific account of the work involved, including the steps required and an estimate of the time, rather than a general assertion that the request is “too large.” Please also indicate whether a charge or an extension of time would enable item 1 to be provided; your letter states it would not, but if that view rests on the “2,600 accounts” characterisation, I ask that it be reconsidered against the narrower scope set out above. In any event, items 2 and 3 should be released now.
Public interest and reasonable assistance
The cost of the Council's discretionary rating choices on Māori freehold land falls on every other ratepayer in the district, and the public interest in understanding that cost — and in distinguishing it from what Parliament required — is significant. Ombudsman guidance treats the significance of the information as relevant to whether administrative effort is truly unreasonable under section 17(f). I also note that this is the second occasion on which a request in this area has been met with an invitation to reformulate rather than a substantive decision, and that treating each refinement as a new request under section 13(7) has the effect of resetting the statutory clock. I ask that the Council provide reasonable assistance and decide the request on its merits.
Next steps
To be clear, I am not amending or withdrawing this request, and it should not be treated as a new request. I ask the Council to issue its decision on the request as framed on or before 15 June 2026, releasing items 2 and 3 in any event. If the Council refuses the request, or does not make a decision within the statutory timeframe, I will seek a review by the Ombudsman.
Thank you.
-----Original Message-----
Kia Ora Requester,
Official Information request RFS 4300912
Thank you for your official information request to the Far North District
Council (‘FNDC’) received on 15 May 2026 (copy attached). Your request is
being considered under the provisions of the Local Government Official
Information and Meetings Act 1987 (“the LGOIMA”).
FNDC notes that there are more than 2600 non-rateable accounts that would
be relevant to your request. Given this, FNDC considers that as the
request currently stands, it would be too large to reasonably process -
and would likely be refused for administrative reasons.
FNDC is of the view that the demands placed on its resources would
unreasonably interfere with its ability to carry out day – to day
operations. So, in the request’s current state, it would most probably be
refused in reliance upon section 17(f) of the LGOIMA. This provides:
Section 17 Refusal of requests
“A request […] may be refused only for 1 or more of the following reasons,
namely: […]
(f) that the information requested cannot be made available without
substantial collation or research: […]“.
FNDC has also looked at whether extending the timeframe and or imposing a
charge would allow it to process the request; however, it has concluded
that neither or both of these measures would alleviate the unreasonable
impact on its operations
Under the LGOIMA, and in line with Ombudsman guidance, you are invited to
reformulate your request.
Please also note, an amended request is treated as a new request for the
purpose of calculating the maximum statutory timeframe for response
(section 13(7) of the LGOIMA).
Nga mihi
LGOIMA Team
Legal Services ‑ Corporate Services
[1][email address]
Te Kaunihera o Te Hiku o te Ika | Far
North District Council
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Pokapū Kōrero 24-hāora | 24-hour Contact
Centre 0800 920 029
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