There are fears a service that helps thousands of Rotorua people each year will have to close if the council goes ahead with a proposal to cut its funding.

Rotorua Lakes Council wants to cut the $40,000 a year it gives the Rotorua Citizens Advice Bureau - nearly half of the service's annual grants funding.

Citizens Advice Bureau manager Jane Eynon-Richards says they received an email from the council about the proposed funding cuts on April 14.

The email, seen by Local Democracy Reporting, says the Annual Plan consultation document has been released and the council is proposing to stop funding community groups and will work to secure funding from other sources.

It says this will save $275,000 in 2023/2024 and $435,000 from 2024/2025 onwards.

The email says the remainder of the council's funding agreement with the CAB, which finishes next year, will be honoured.

Jane says it was a shock to the team, including herself and the 58 volunteers who helped 3000 people in January, February and March alone.

'To think we are not valued is quite heartbreaking.”

Rotorua mayor Tania Tapsell says the bureau's services are valued but the council is proactively looking at what it should and shouldn't spend rates on in these tough financial times.

Jane has been at the bureau for the last 20 years and says the most satisfying aspect of the job is when clients came back to say the advice given worked.

The advice ranges from helping with housing, tenancy and relationship issues, to income support, help with immigration, employment rights and neighbour disputes.

A lawyer and justice of the peace are based at the bureau several days a week.

Jane says the bureau helped clients referred by the council with tree, fence and shared driveway issues.

The service has operated in the city for 45 years but Jane is worried about its future.

The bureau would last about a year without the council funding, she says.

Her part-time role is the only paid position, and she would need to spend time now finding an alternative source of funding that also covered rent.

She believes this will prove difficult as it's often harder to get funding for operational costs.

The bureau's work is also funded by grants totalling $47,000 from Rotorua Trust, Community Organisation Grants Scheme, Lottery Grant funding, and a small contract with the Ministry of Immigration for settlement support advice.

The council has funded the bureau for at least 20 years, first through a community grant and then through a partnership grant.

On average it helps 12,000 clients a year. In the last financial year, 29 per cent identified as Māori and the biggest age cohort was people in their 30s at 24 per cent.

If the bureau closed, other providers and organisations will need to see these people instead, says Jane.

Demand has increased during the cost of living crisis as people seek advice on redundancy or needing food or have been evicted for missed rent payments, she says.

The council's draft Annual Plan proposes increased fees and spending cuts to limit the rates increase to an average 7.2 per cent.

Cuts to save $665,000 are proposed to community wellbeing investment but the draft plan does not specify how many other community groups could have their funding cut.

It says it will work with affected groups to find funding from 'more suitable” sources.

The consultation document says the council believes that within the overall district, there are already viable community funders that can potentially better support community groups.

It says there's duplication with other funders and 'high costs” of administration.

A council spokesperson says the proposal is one of a number supported by elected members and outlined in the consultation document.

'The draft Annual Plan is currently out for public consultation and it would be inappropriate for [the] council to comment on any of the proposals at this point in time.

'The finalised Annual Plan will be adopted at the end of June which is when we would have confirmation of which proposals have been accepted.”

Tania says the bureau's services are 'no doubt” valued by the community.

She says the council will honour the three-year Partnership Agreements fund which has one year left, after which the bureau would have had to reapply anyway.

'It's very tough times financially for families in our community so [the] council is being proactive and taking the opportunity now to look seriously at what [it] should, and shouldn't be spending rates on to keep it as affordable as possible.

'We need to make responsible decisions in the best interests of our wider community and at times this will mean resetting how previous councils operated to be more efficient and deliver for the current needs of Rotorua.”

Tania says she has met with the bureau to reassure them the final year of the current agreement will not be impacted and reassure them directly of 'my appreciation for the work that they do”.

She encourages people to have their say on the draft plan.

Rotorua Trust chairman Stewart Edward previously told Local Democracy Reporting: 'It is our view the council can't make an assumption that the community funders in Rotorua will be available to meet the loss in funding.”

Consultation on the draft plan will end on May 12.

Details and how to submit can be found on the council website.

- Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ on Air.