Every three years councils must revalue all properties in their localities for rating purposes. Tauranga's 2018 revaluation has been completed by independent valuation company Opteon, and new valuation notices hit homeowners' letterboxes and email inboxes last week.

The new capital values reflect what each property might have sold for at the date of valuation, 1 July 2018, excluding chattels (e.g. curtains, whiteware, stove). Opteon establishes these values using mass appraisal techniques – recent property sales data, resource/building consent data and sample inspections.

If property owners feel their new valuation doesn't reflect the value of their property at 1 July 2018, they can lodge an objection on council's website, via email or post. The cut-off date for objections is Friday 25 January 2019.

Opteon will review all objections and evidence by 30 June 2019, working area by area. The new rating values will be used to calculate everyone's share of rates from 1 July 2019, once the council budget for 2019/20 has been set through the annual plan process.

More information: www.tauranga.govt.nz/revaluation