Bay of Plenty Regional Council ratepayers will be able to set up a direct debit any time from the beginning of July through to October 19 to pay their 2022/23 rates.

A direct debit allows ratepayers to spread the cost of their rates across the year and avoid a late payment penalty.

From July 2022 the Bay of Plenty Regional Council rates will no longer be invoiced by city or district councils.

Instead, ratepayers will be separately invoiced by Bay of Plenty Regional Council, and pay their rates directly to the regional council.

A Bay of Plenty Regional Council statement said if someone was currently paying rates by a direct debit they would need to set up a new direct debit for the regional council portion of the rates.

"A direct debit arrangement means payments will be calculated to be spread across the rates year, rather than having to be paid in full by October 20. It also means that you won't get charged a late payment penalty."

The statement said there was a wide range of frequency options and timings of instalments, including weekly or fortnightly on a Tuesday or Thursday, as well as monthly on the 20th of each month, or annually.

"This is handy for budgeting and means you don't have to worry about remembering to make a payment."

Direct debits could be set up from July 1 at www.boprc.govt.nz/direct-debit.

For more information, ratepayers can visit www.boprc.govt.nz/rates or contact the regional council on 0800 BOP RATES (0800 267 728).

-Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air