Council considers cuts to avoid 13.4% rates rise in Thames-Coromandel

Tuesday, 3 March 2026

The Thames-Coromandel District Council will consult on a plan to keep rates increases at or under 3.8% this financial year.

Ratepayers in Thames-Coromandel could be facing some serious service cuts, and increases to user pays charges, as their council attempts to avoid a 13.4% rates hike.

District mayor Peter Revell said at council meeting that locals would be asked for their feedback on the proposed cuts and fee increases as he looks to deliver on pre-election promises of a much lower 3.8% average overall rates increase.

However, cutting about 10% off a 13.4% increase will prove challenging with councillors considering cuts to gardening and mowing services in parks and reserves, shorter opening hours for waste and recycling transfer stations in Coromandel town, Matarangi, and Pāuanui, and hikes in fees and charges.

They said their aim was to meet or exceed the 3.8% target set out by the council’s Mayoral Efficiency Taskforce (MET), which would “achieve an estimated 3.2% average district rates increase, but introduces service reductions, delivery risk, reputational risk, compliance risks and reduced organisational flexibility and capacity”.

Thames Coromandel District mayor Peter Revell said ratepayers had sent the council a clear message not to increase their rates.

Staff recommended that councillors went with an almost 9.1% overall increase “as the most financially prudent approach that maintains delivery of agreed services and statutory obligations while remaining within the council’s adopted financial parameters”.

Councillors voted unanimously to consult on an average rates increase of no more than 3.8%.

However, the 3.8% overall target would also see a $1 million drop in funding to council’s Information Technology improvement programme, and the slashing of $1 million from its personnel costs, which could lead to redundancies or leaving of some unfilled vacancies open.

Cutting back on the maintenance of parks and gardens in the Thames-Coromandel district could save ratepayers up to $450,000. Photo/File

It would also include cuts to infrastructure budgets for transport, waters and solid waste operations of $1.87 million, a reduction to debt repayments of $150,000, and reducing the amount of depreciation funded through rates by $3.5 million.

The council wants to increase income from regulatory compliance infringements by $400,000, and remove its disaster reserves contribution of $454,750.

Councillors also voted to consult on a proposed average 13% increase in user fees and charges “for activities with predominantly private benefit (such as airfields, Hot Water Beach parking) and for services where costs have grown faster than revenue (such as cemeteries, harbours),” a report to councillors said.

Feedback on rates pain means councillors need to ‘the need for us to take fairly strong action’, Deputy Mayor John Grant said.

Councillor Martin Rodley said he wasn’t keen on cutting $450,000 from the parks and reserves maintenance budget saying he expected council would “get a lot of pushback”, and those savings were not backed by solid information.

“People get joy from the gardens and the flowers, let’s not take their joy away for the sake of saving some money,” he said.

Councillor Robyn Sinclair said “our mindset needs to shift from this point to how we are going to have a conversation with our communities about getting to that number … about what this means for them, and how they can go and give us really good information”.

Deputy mayor John Grant said councillors needed to take seriously “the feedback we have been receiving in regard to the pain people are feeling in regard to their cost of rates, and the need for us to take fairly strong action in regard to what is needed to bring those rates back to a level of affordability”.

He said serious council cost cutting would “come with a degree of pain and hurt”.

“We have heard loud and clear that there is no appetite for steep increases to rates,” Revell said.

“The councillors and I campaigned in last year’s election on this issue and we have worked with staff to identify workable savings and adjustments.

“Delivering on these in the 2026/27 financial year will mean visible changes to the services council delivers.

“In our public consultation we will spell out in detail what these changes mean and we will listen carefully to the feedback we receive.”

The council is expected to review its consultation documents at the end of this month and release them for public feedback in April.

They aim to adopt their annual plan by late June, ahead of the new financial year beginning on July 1.