The Tauranga City Council administration building on Willow St. Photo / File
The Tauranga City Council administration building on Willow St. Photo / File
Seven Tauranga ratepayers' groups are pushing for a public referendum on rates.
But Tauranga City Council staff say it would cause big delays and costs and double up on other public consultations.
The request will be debated in a council meeting today, with elected officials set to vote on whetheror not to approve the referendum.
The seven groups are Citizens Advocacy Tauranga, Tauranga Ratepayers Action Network, Te Papa Residents Groups, Greerton Ratepayer Alliance, Mount Maunganui Residents and Ratepayers Association, Papamoa Residents and Ratepayers Association and Welcome Bay Rating Advocates.
In a covering letter sent to the council, representatives of each group called for a referendum on matters relating to the 2020/21 draft Annual Plan, the council's budget and work plan for the year.
The current draft plan, which went out for public feedback in April, has a 7.6 per cent average rates rise, cut back from the 12.6 per cent proposed pre-pandemic.
The council has indicated that due to the evolving Covid-19 situation, it might make more changes to the draft - including the rates proposals - which could require another round of community consultation. The plan is due to be discussed in a meeting on Tuesday next week.
In the referendum letter, the seven groups said the standard consultation process would not satisfy the need for "absolute maximum community involvement in the process".
"Especially while the coronavirus/Covid-19 restrictions remain in place."
They wanted the referendum to include five yes/no questions about rates.
The questions broadly line up with those used in a recent online survey led by the Papamoa association.
Results of the survey released earlier this month by the association showed 93 per cent of 967 respondents wanted no residential rates increase.
A majority of respondents also wanted the commercial sector to pay a larger share of rates and the council to reduce operating expenses and abandon its proposed kerbside rubbish and recycling collection.
Referendum wording requested by the seven groups.
For a public-initiated referendum to go ahead, the council would first need to approve it, potentially changing the wording in the process.
Then the requesters would have 90 days to gather signatures of 5 per cent of eligible voters in support. A council-initiated referendum could skip the petition step.
In a report to be presented at the meeting, council legal manager Nick Swallow recommended against approving the referendum.
He said it could cause a delay in striking the rates of up to four months, or six to seven weeks if the council initiated the referendum.
A quote from the council's electoral officer indicated the referendum, by postal and online vote, would cost $190,000 to $210,000.
Swallow also said the referendum was "problematic" in terms of legal requirements and could overlap other consultation processes, or trigger more consultation.
Rob Paterson, chairman of Citizens Advocacy Tauranga, said he expected council staff to be against the referendum going ahead but it was for elected members to decide.
He estimated the groups represented "several hundred" ratepayers. It was unusual, he said, for all groups to agree on issues "but we are 100 per cent behind this".
A recent council survey of residents showed only 41 per cent thought the council provided value for money, down from 50 per cent at the same time last year.
The council's last referendum was about the museum proposal in 2018.
Proposed referendum questions
1. Do you agree with council's Policy Committee's decision to recommend an average residential rates increase of 7.6%?
2. Do you want the average annual residential rate increase, including the 2020/2021 year, to be ZERO%, particularly due to the severe financial hardship caused by Covid-19?
3. Should commercial rate differential be limited to 1.2:1?
4. Do you consider the council's compulsory kerbside rubbish collection proposal at $400+ GST per annum is unnecessary, too expensive and should be abandoned?*
5. Do you require council to reduce operating expenditure, including inter alia: a reduction of staff and consultant costs, to defer all capital expenditure for 2020/2021 year? [SIC]
*NOTE: Cost figure not provided by the council, which has yet to settle on a cost for the service and is currently considering tenders. Similar services elsewhere in NZ cost $200-$350 per household per year. The earliest the service - and the targeted rate could start is 2021/22. Spending on kerbside collections was planned for the coming year, but was likely to be deferred, as has been a final decision on whether to go ahead with it.
Other big decisions on today's agenda
Wairakei planting - Mount Maunganui and Papamoa ward councillors Dawn Kiddie and Steve Morris will raise a notice of motion calling for a halt to controversial planting work along the Wairakei Stream in the Palm Beach area until residents and tangata whenua have been consulted.
Elizabeth St Council to consider whether to go ahead with up to $8.7m project for streetscaping in Elizabeth St, potentially turning half of its width into a pedestrian- and cycle-friendly "linear park".
Wharf St Proposal to declare section between Willow St and The Strand a pedestrian-only mall, following a five-year trial of it being a one-way shared space.
