Tauranga sports organisations and trade show promoters can expect big increases hire costs for city indoor stadiums after it was disclosed that present fees were "ridiculously cheap".
Cr Bob Addison said that compared with the rest of the country, the council's charges were so low they were a joke.
"They are ridiculously cheap," he told a meeting this week of the group steering the project to build a $41 million sports and exhibition centre at Baypark.
The cost to build the stadium had the potential to add $2.3 million a year to rates if the council's existing level of subsidies for indoor stadium users was allowed to continue.
New figures unveiled to the project steering group underlined the importance of next year's review into all council user fees and charges _ not just stadiums. Council recreation manager Kiri Pope said Tauranga's fees and charges were "exceptionally low".
Whereas ratepayer subsidies elsewhere in the country ranged between 40 to 60 or 70 per cent, Tauranga ratepayers subsidise stadium users by about 90 per cent.
Tauranga was charging each adult user $8 an hour whereas other councils varied from $15 to $45 per hour.
New Plymouth's TSB Stadium charged adults $35 per hour.
Cr Murray Guy said the council needed to get to an equal footing on percentages.
Cr Mary Dillon said charges should be increased in stages to 2009, regardless of new facilities.
However, Sport Bay of Plenty chief executive Wayne Werder said it was important user groups had input into the project before it was too late.
Cr Rick Curach said if users won't pay then the project would not happen. The council needed to accelerate and prioritise that input to allow time for a stadium redesign if users could not afford it.
"It should be designed around the ability to pay."
Project manager Peter Vause of RDT Pacific warned that delays would add $4000 a day to costs.
Chairman Bill Faulkner said they needed some ballpark costings quickly for user groups.
Council business support manager Tania Delahunty said conservative and very preliminary estimates of income and expenditure for the sports and exhibition centre showed an annual operating deficit of nearly $630,000.
This was $100,000 less than the current rates-funded operational deficit on the Mount Action Centre.
And with the council due to relinquish its lease on the Mount Action Centre when the new stadium opened in 2010, operating costs would not be an added burden on ratepayers.
The real impact on ratepayers would be the projected annual $2.4 million debt servicing and depreciation bill on the council's $25 million share of the capital cost to build the sports and exhibition centre.
Next year's review of user fees and charges was expected to substantially reduce this impact on rates.
Construction cost estimates will be firmed up once a specialist in stadium sports flows and layout, Tauranga architect Brian Davies, finished his review of the design.
He was brought into the project at the behest of Volleyball BOP.
Work on fees and charges would start once volleyball and basketball signed an in-principle agreement on the design.
The council hopes this will happen by October 2.
Ms Delahunty said a range of fee scenarios would be presented to user groups _ including off-peak charges and other discounts.
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