Tauranga rates rise settled at 5.6 per cent, library rebuild saved, Turret Rd addressed

Funding for projects to reduce congestion on Turret Rd has been brought forward. Photo / George Novak

An average rates rise of 5.6 per cent, a reprieve for the central library and accelerated funding for Turret Rd and the Hairini Bridge congestion busting projects.

Those were the decision highlights as the Tauranga City Council yesterday wrapped up two weeks of debating what funding should stay and what should go in its draft budget for the next decade.

A change in the way the council splits its rates bill meant the average residential rates rise next year would be about 4.5 per cent, including funding for a new glass collection service.

Commercial rates, on the other hand, would increase around 10 per cent on average.

Tauranga Chamber of Commerce chief executive Stan Gregec said he believed most business owners could live with that, and it was a reasonable compromise from the council's initial plan.

The numbers will be finally confirmed when the council signs off its budget at the end of this month.

Library revived, museum canning confirmed

By a margin of one vote, a proposal to spend $35 million building a new CBD library within the next three years also made the cut.

A plan to spend $42.3 million on a new library was voted down last week.

Friends of the Library president Terry Hawker said he would have been "ecstatic" with $42.3 million, but $35 million was still "very pleasing".

"We have two lovely libraries we can be proud of in Greerton and Papamoa, now the central library needs to be brought up to scratch."

It was disappointing, however, to have watched the council "quibble" over funding for a public facility when it had previously committed $23.2m for its civic administration building, Hawker said.

The library would replace the current facility on Willow St, which had water tightness issues engineers have said would be not worth fixing.

The council also hammered two final nails into the coffin containing its museum proposal, with two further votes taken to confirm it would not be funded.

As well, it asked staff to look into what would be involved in "deaccessioning" the Tauranga heritage collection - effectively reviewing the contents to confirm what was worth keeping.

John Robson said some people believed the collection had few artefacts of historical value. A review would provide the evidence to refute or prove that view.

Councillor Max Mason said it was "insult to injury" for museum supporters and it could "result in the guts being ripped out of the collection".

Turret Rd and 15th Ave funding brought forward

The council sped up funding for work towards freeing up the notorious congestion corridor 15th Ave, Turret Rd and the Hairini Bridge.

But with a great deal of uncertainty still surrounding what can be done in the area, the council's options were limited.

Transport manager Martin Parkes said big potential complications included major resource consent hurdles, the structural integrity of the bridge and the near-citywide gridlock that could result from having Turret Rd or bridge roadworks coinciding with major Bayfair to Baypark work.

Councillors added $300,000 in funding for analysis projects in the next financial year, and brought forward another $5.4 million from 2025.

They hoped the move would put them in a position to move fast if research indicated a tidal flow system was possible or long-term plans to four-lane Turret Rd and build a new bridge could be moved forward.