Commissioners describe Tauranga City Council’s 2024-34 Long-term Plan (LTP), adopted today, as the culmination of their work ahead of their imminent departure.

The plan outlines council’s direction and establishes the investment in priority projects and infrastructure it will deliver for the community over the next decade to address the city’s most pressing issues.

Key priorities remain unchanged and include investing in revitalising the city centre, upgrading the transport network, community spaces, existing urban areas to deliver additional housing, growth in Tauriko West, as well as our city’s future resilience.

Tauranga City Council Commission Chair, Anne Tolley says it was a big milestone to have reached this stage with the plan now audited and approved.

“When we arrived in Tauranga, we found this enormous lack of investment in basic maintenance, roading and community facilities. The city looked neglected, like nobody cared about it and it had been overwhelmed by massive population growth over a short period.

“The community has since told us time and time again what this city needs. This Long-term Plan continues the direction previously set and outlines the $4.9b capital programme.

“We believe we’ve set the city up in the right direction and it is our hope the democratically elected council will build on this plan with the right decisions and investment,” says Anne.

The Commission also acknowledged its direction to put a fairer rating structure in place.

To help reduce the burden on general rate payers, and to make sure all rate payers are paying their fair share, the Commission put in place a new industrial rating category that will see industrial properties pay a larger share than in the past. This means residential property rates are around three per cent lower than if the category had not been created.

As a result, median priced residential properties rates will increase 7.0 per cent. This increase has been calculated using the new 2023 capital valuations and includes the Transport System Plan Infrastructure Funding and Finance levy.

The levy replaces the targeted rate Council was charging to partly fund its transport projects. The median residential property IFF levy will be $72 and median commercial/industrial property IFF levy will be $607, from 1 July 2024.

“The Minister for Local Government asked us to create this plan before completing our term and I'm excited to see Tauranga become the best city in New Zealand to live, work, play and learn,” says Anne.

The final LTP will be available on council’s website shortly.

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