Tauranga residents can expect to pay anywhere between $3.49 a week to $8.11 in rate increases. Photo / Getty
Rates for next year could increase by 13.7 per cent - not the originally forecast 12 per cent that prompted an outcry when proposed last year.
And Tauranga commissioners warn if people don't invest properly in the city now, they will end up paying for it later on.
But a community representative warns people are already doing it tough and higher rates will only create more hardship.
Tauranga City Council met yesterday to agree on amendments to the existing 2021-31 Long-term Plan and Annual Plan for 2022/23. The changes include increasing the originally-proposed 12 per cent rates rise to 13.7 per cent (including water volumetric charging), plus further increases to user fees and charges, and development contributions.
These amendments are expected to help fund key projects such as the Civic Precinct build and transportation infrastructure.
The 13.7 per cent increase was broken down to different rates for different households. Those people living in low residential should expect to pay $3.49 more a week, those in homes in the low quartile $4.18 more, those in the median quartile $4.82 more, those in the upper quartile $4.62 more, and owners of properties worth $3.5m or more can expect to pay an extra $8.11 a week.
Development contributions will increase 15 per cent - most of which is expected to be passed on to new homeowners.
Commissioner Stephen Selwood said people often focused on the percentage increase of rates "but that is not the story here".
"The story is we are investing in the future of this city. Yes, it costs money but if you don't invest properly, we will pay in other ways."
Selwood referred to poor transport infrastructure, lack of amenities, substandard housing infrastructure, and the state of the CBD "when we first arrived".
"We want to turn that around."
The proposed $303.4m Civic Precinct (Te Manawataki O Te Papa) build is poised to help do exactly that, he said.
This option is one of two that Tauranga residents have a chance to choose from. The second is a $126.8m no-frills version described by commission chairwoman Anne Tolley as "ordinary".
Commissioner Shadrach Rolleston said the commission was trying to achieve a heart of the city and refresh the CBD.
"We are seeking $300m overall to develop that in a single-phase development, hopefully over the next six to seven years."
Eighty-three million dollars has already been committed to fund the future library and community hub.
Another $221m was being sought from the community, with about $150m expected to come from grant funding and "asset recycling", and another $70m from ratepayers.
"Yes, it's a significant investment overall in the community and I understand from a ratepayer perspective there are some concerns about the impact on rates. But I think we have to think about this in a broader context in what we trying to do - seek and deliver for our city," Rolleston said.
The 13.7 per cent proposed increase is far above similar cities. Hamilton City Council has indicated a proposed average annual rate increase of 4.9 per cent for 2022/23, the same percentage indicated in its 2021-31 Long-term Plan.
In Auckland, the proposed 2022/23 rates increase for all ratepayers is 4.96 per cent.
Tolley said the consultation document was "exceptionally important" and contained "some quite exciting options for the city".
She said the options reflected conversations with residents in the past year and offered the chance for people to be part of "creating an exciting, vibrant city centre".
The increase to development contributions also reflected community sentiment, she said.
"The feeling was expressed to us very clearly that residents were carrying too big of a load."
Selwood said "this is about getting people to pay their fair share".
Mount Maunganui Residents, Ratepayers and Retailers Association president Michael O'Neill told the Bay of Plenty Times he was comfortable with the increase to development contributions.
"That's about growth paying for growth. Newcomers coming into the district should be able to pay for the infrastructure they will be using."
However, when it came to the rates increase, particularly to help fund the Civic Precinct, O'Neill said a discussion needed to be had.
"I'm sympathetic to the conversation for a civic centre and how that can best be funded, whether by rates or other methods... and the inclusion of a museum is something that also needs to be discussed."
Papamoa Residents and Ratepayers Association president Philip Brown said the rates increase, coming despite the vocal opposition to suggestions of 15 and 12 per cent increases last year, was "ridiculous".
"Every point above what they projected last year is more hardship for people - ratepayers, renters. They will see their rent go up and the obvious reason will be because people have to pay their rates."
Last week, community centres in Merivale and Welcome Bay spoke of surges in people struggling to afford day-to-day costs due to the rising cost of living. Tauranga Community Foodbank also noted it was helping many new faces.
In July last year, ousted councillor Larry Baldock spoke at a Long-term Plan meeting saying the then-proposed 15 per cent increase would be worth it to "get the city we want".
Meanwhile, protesters had gathered outside council chambers in opposition to the prospect. Commissioners eventually agreed to a forecast 12 per cent rates increase for the 2022/23 year.
Baldock told the Bay of Plenty Times he still stood by that notion and supported "the fact the commissioners are making some pretty important decisions".
The civic square project had been around for years and would only get more expensive the longer it takes to get it done, he said.
A month of consultation on the amended Long-term Plan and Annual Plan will begin today. The consultation on the Statement of Proposals for User Fees and Charges, and for the Development Contributions Policy will be held concurrently, with a formal submission process and hearings to be held in May.
Consultation opportunities
• Online at the council website
• Feedback forms available from the council's customer service centre or libraries
• March 26, 9am to 2pm, The Little Big Markets, Coronation Park
• March 30, 5pm to 7pm, Matua Bowling Club
• April 2, 2pm to 4pm, Hungahungatoroa Club, Matapihi
• April 6, 6pm to 8pm, Welcome Bay Community Hall
• April 9, 1pm to 3pm, Tauranga Crossing Mall
• April 10, 7am to 1pm, Papamoa Lions Club Market, Gordon Spratt Reserve
• April 12, 5.30pm to 7.30pm, via an online event with Microsoft Teams
All feedback must be received by 5pm on April 26. Submission hearings will take place from May 9 to 13, and deliberations will follow on May 23 to 26.
Final decisions are expected to be made and the Long-term Plan Amendment and Annual Plan 2022/23 adopted on June 27.