$8m could be slashed from council spending

Nearly $8 million could be slashed from Tauranga City Council spending over the next 10 years in a major revision of key budgets today.

The cost-cutting has been proposed by Mayor Stuart Crosby in order to keep costs down and hold debt at "desired levels".

Today's council meeting will consider cutting $4m from the $12m agreed last week to upgrade the city centre's waterfront, streetscape and open spaces.

The reductions were proposed after Mr Crosby saw the full financial picture for the next 10 years at the conclusion of council budget meetings on February 4.

He is proposing to axe $1.75m out of the original $9m earmarked to be spent on major events for the next 10 years.

The other big cut was from Tauranga Libraries' spending on new books. Mr Crosby proposed to reduce book budgets by nearly $800,000.

Issues with the council's balance sheet has also hit Tauranga Airport which operates as a stand-alone business unit without ratepayer support. Mr Crosby proposes to remove a $1.2m airport walkway from the 10-year plan.

Other proposed cuts were:
- $200,000 from additional staffing costs of $1.4m
- defer adding a floor to the Elizabeth St carpark building until 2024/25