About 250 people attended a rally at Tauranga’s Memorial Park urging the city council to reduce rates.
Act list MP Cameron Luxton spoke to the crowd before they marched to The Strand in the city centre on Sunday.
Rally organiser Jan Gyenge wanted Tauranga City Council to find $40 million in savings because she said the proposed 12% rates increase was “unsustainable”.
Gyenge said the rally went well and there was great engagement from the attendees.
The crowd stopped outside the new council offices on Devonport Rd and sported signs asking council to “stop the spend” and “respect ratepayers”.
The rally was not the end but a platform for people to share their concerns, Gyenge said.
About 250 people attended a rally against proposed rates increases for Tauranga that finished at The Strand. Photo / Supplied
Last week the council heard from submitters on its Annual Plan for 2025/26.
The plan received 968 written submissions and 96 people asked to speak to the council directly.
The council would deliberate on its Annual Plan on May 26.
Mayor Mahé Drysdale previously said the plan tried to strike a balance between investing in the city and affordability for ratepayers.
The council had already found $29m in savings to get to 12%, and was working to find more to get the final number down to 10% or lower.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
13 comments
I think…
Posted on 21-05-2025 12:12 | By Shadow1
…the Council needs to, at least, consider and investigate the zero rates increase just for an exercise in cutting costs. They have already said that they are going to reduce staff numbers and are actively looking for ways of saving money. The $29M that they claim they have already saved is nonsense of course, that was never going to happen.
The most effective savings they can make will be in staff reductions (serious cuts), and carrying out the city centre work over 10 years or so.
Also only existing infrastructure maintenance and replacement should feature in the Long Term Plan. Other works should join the “do we really need this” and the “do we actually want this” queue.
Come on Council if you want to please the majority of ratepayers, listen to them.
Shadow1.
Not enough people
Posted on 21-05-2025 12:14 | By Saul
I was part of the protest!
Not enough people attended imo
Do the people of Tauranga like paying huge amounts on rates?
Get off ur butts and support it next time!!!!
Dont expect others to do it for you.
Cheers
Hmmmm
Posted on 21-05-2025 14:38 | By Mystic101
Why don't rates ever come down? Local Govt dosent care if you can't afford to live there.
Napier
Posted on 21-05-2025 16:32 | By Kancho
Well Napier Council have 850 staff and just restructured and shed 100 jobs to save money and keep rates done . Unfortunate loss of jobs but local bodies tend to grow and overstaff . So proportionally if our council restructured to save money and reduce rates then 1300 staff plus should do better.
Correction
Posted on 21-05-2025 16:36 | By Kancho
Napier Council has 785 staff and shed over 100 positions so you get the idea with Tauranga
TCC spending continues
Posted on 21-05-2025 17:18 | By Batch
....TCC seem to have hearing loss...I see they have asked artists to paint a mural on a building they own in Tauranga and are offering up $40.000...thats eq
Enough about rates.
Posted on 22-05-2025 09:46 | By Goose
God, I completely understand that rates are a hotly contested subject... But councils don't reduce rates... just maintain reduced percentage increases.
If we stop improvements in the city then people compain it's a "ghost city" yet if we spend it's "irresponsible"... You can't win.
How about we take money away from sports and other areas that only impact a proportiuon of the population and put that money on rates. Then all the rate payers will get a "break"... Somebody always suffers.
We life in a hyper-inflated market with runaway expenditure in all sectors... lets face it... The whole lot needs to collapse and be rebuilt better.
Out of control
Posted on 22-05-2025 10:21 | By an_alias
Unless your on the Council salary this is not sustainable.
I've lived here most of my life and are thinking of taking my business elsewhere.
These guys are like drunken sailors with gay abandon throwing cash at anything that moves.
Whats better is they just dont stop in a recession where business are struggling.
@Goose
Posted on 22-05-2025 16:06 | By Kancho
I think most ratepayers just want spending to be scrutinized to make sure it's very necessary core business, maintenance. Of course investments on improvements are good but need careful balance. I want several things from council but reality tells me it's not going to happen. Been writing to council for years and assured they know and have a plan , but no money. So when they spend on something to make town "pretty " I wonder why as what I want is important for pedestrian crossing safety.
Rates
Posted on 23-05-2025 08:42 | By Chris and Claudia
Double the rates of the holiday home owners and landlords - this will solve also the housing shortage.This group was freeloading long enough...
The Master
Posted on 23-05-2025 14:12 | By Ian Stevenson
@ Chris and Claudia
If rates are increased for landlords then rent will increase even more.
Then that is just penalizing tenants because they are tenants.
The Master
Posted on 23-05-2025 14:15 | By Ian Stevenson
you think 12% rate hike is a problem LOL
TCC "plans" to hike rates by 167% by 2034 (as per the LTP 2024-2034)
This kind of mess is going to happen every year @ 12% or more, there is no escaping it as TCC has wasted ratepayers money, borrowed huge amounts and has nothing to show for it except a new and shiny "Staff Palace" that TCC does not even own.
The Master
Posted on 23-05-2025 14:17 | By Ian Stevenson
Debt was around $600m just a few years ago...
Now getting close to $1.7 billion
By 2034 the LTP says $3 billion plus
So that means debt will be 5x higher?
What do you think is going to happen to rates?
How do you reduce rates when debt is skyrocketing and some...
Answer = easy = you cant.
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