Big projects like this affect your rates. The Council borrows the money to build, then pays it back with interest over many years, like a mortgage. To show what each option would cost you, we have used an average land value of $405,000. In Nelson, rates are based on land value, the value of the land on its own, not the house on it. The average rates are $4,786 in rates including GST this year (2025/26). The new Civic Hub is one new project among a lot of other projects and Council activities. The amount shown below is the peak annual figure (i.e. the one year where the rates impact is the highest – which is when the building has been built). It includes GST. The rates impact then reduces year on year as the related debt is repaid.

OPTION 1 · CIVIC HOUSE
Already in the plan
$207 /year
peak, incl. GST
Extra from this consultation
+$24 /year
Total $231/yr
OPTION 2 · COLLINGWOOD
Already in the plan
$207 /year
peak, incl. GST
Extra from this consultation
+$44 /year
Total $251/yr
OPTION 3 · CHURCH ST
Already in the plan
$207 /year
peak, incl. GST
Extra from this consultation
+$71 /year
Total $278/yr
What you already pay in rates
$4,786
including GST per year (2025/26)
Based on land value

$405,000 average residential land value. The new Civic Hub is one new item within this wider picture.

The $207 already in the Long Term Plan is the same for every option. It is already built into current rates and the projected rates rises, so it is not new money on top of them. Only the extra amount is new: $24, $44 or $71 a year, depending on which location the Council chooses. The $207 is the highest, or peak, baseline cost. It then drops in later years as the debt is paid down. All figures include GST.

Year by year