Watt argued it was unfair to discriminate between people living in the city centre and the rest of Tauranga.
''Everyone benefits from making the downtown more attractive and vibrant...if they keep penalising us for living in this area they will drive residents away.''
He challenged the council's rationale for the targeted portion of the rate - that the upgrades would generate a greater benefit to the city centre through increased property values and improved commercial activity.
''I choose to live here so I can access these areas of so-called benefit easily, but everyone else in this city uses these amenities as well.''
Watt said he felt sorry for elderly people who had lived in the city centre for many years.
An elderly neighbour whose property was valued at $1 million would pay an additional $430, whereas spreading the costs equally across the whole city added $6 to rates.
The rates calculator on the council's website showed that he faced a total rates increase this year of 28 per cent. Comparing residential units on each side of 3rd Ave showed the northern side would pay a $200 more in rates because of the targeted rate.
The council has sought public feedback in its draft Long Term Plan on three options to fund the upgrades, including the option favoured by Watt to spread all the costs across all city ratepayers. Submissions close at 4pm this Monday.
The Long Term Plan had earmarked $23.65m for city centre streetscape, waterfront and open space upgrades.
"We are aligning our work with private developers to achieve the best results for our city,'' city transformation manager Jaine Lovell-Gadd said.
It included work beginning soon to upgrade Durham St and Durham Lane alongside construction of the Waikato University Campus. She said it would create a vibrant, pedestrian and cycle friendly educational precinct.
Other upgrades included Aspen Reserve and concept planning for Elizabeth St to align with the development of the new Farmers building.
"What we are aiming to achieve with this investment is to lift the overall quality of our city experience and encourage further investment. This will improve the environment for local businesses and residents as well as increase property values overall,'' she said.
Council's Economic Development and Investment Committee chairman Max Mason pointed to the growth in downtown living in Auckland where an equal number of people (40,000) now lived and worked in the downtown.
''We want to transform the city centre into a whole new entity. It is not just bringing back the shoppers - it is wider than that.'' He cited residential living, education, events and tourism.
Mason said he understood how a lot of retired people were asset rich but lived on fixed incomes. ''Some people will not be able to afford it and we will have to look at that.''
Tauranga Harcourts managing director Simon Martin said the targeted rate would be something potential buyers of residential properties in the city centre would factor in.
''Any buyer would take it into account.''
How much weight it would have in their final decisions was very subjective, he said.
Property Council New Zealand chief executive Connal Townsend was broadly supportive of targeted rates, saying they had been shown to work in the main centres, including street upgrades in Auckland's CBD.
However, support was conditional on Tauranga City Council not introducing its proposed differential rate on commercial ratepayers because the council should not have both differential rates and targeted rates, he said.
Residential impact of funding options for downtown street and waterfront upgrades*
100% funded across all city ratepayers: $6 a year per ratepayer
20% funded by city centre ratepayers: $218 per city centre ratepayer (9.5% rate rise)
50% funded by city centre ratepayers: $546 per city centre ratepayer (24% rate rise)
* Based on residential property capital value of $500,000
Source: Tauranga City Council
