End of free school bus services to hit ratepayers

Ratepayers are set to pay nearly $270,000 toward the school bus service.

The end of Tauranga's free school bus service will cost ratepayers nearly $270,000 this year to subsidise fares for about 3000 students.

Bay of Plenty Regional Council faces extra bus contract costs of $550,000 following the Department of Education's decision to withdraw funding from the urban school bus service.

Ratepayers will make up the difference between the fares students will start paying from Term 2 and New Zealand Transport Agency subsidies.

Council transport manager Garry Maloney said about $125,000 would be collected from a targeted rate levied on Tauranga ratepayers and $143,000 from the general regional rate.

Picking up the costs of school buses was part of the extra $2.5million of public transport costs for the year - split between bus fares and ratepayer and transport agency subsidies.

Mr Maloney said part of the increase was from changing Rotorua's bus contract to one where the council took the fares and paid the operator the costs to run the service.

Tenders have closed for the new contract.

The region's ratepayers will contribute $850,000 of extra public transport costs next year. It means the general rate will increase by about 10c per property in the Bay, with targeted rates going up $2.70 per ratepayer in Tauranga and Rotorua.

The $2.5million will take council transport spending to $18million for 2015-16, rising to a projected $25million by 2025. Public submissions have opened on the council's 10-year plan.