Tauranga is the only city in New Zealand that will not have an election come October.
Photo: 123RF
This decision has been met with angst and relief and it will cost up to $300,000 more than the previous election.
Up to $600,000 in election costs would be deferred until July 2024 when the Tauranga City Council election occurs, but it would cost council around $300,000 more than the 2019 election.
On Friday, Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta announced a commission would remain in place for another two and half years to "ensure that the council has the stability needed to maintain its current pace".
Four commissioners took over in February 2021 after Mahuta deposed the previous councillors in December 2020. This was because of "significant governance problems among elected representatives" and the findings of an independent review.
"The commissioners have acted on many hard decisions that are essential to building a prosperous and sustainable future for Tauranga," said Mahuta. "But it is clear there is more to be done".
According to information provided to Local Democracy Reporting by Tauranga City Council, the projected cost for the 2024 election is between $550,000 and $600,000.
This would be shouldered entirely by council, unlike previous elections where the Bay of Plenty Regional Council and Bay of Plenty District Health Board shared the cost.
DHB elections cease from October and regional council elections would proceed as normal.
The total cost of Tauranga City's 2019 election was around $506,000, with council's share close to $311,000.
The DHB's share of the costs was about $175,000 and the regional council's share was close to $20,000.
Tauranga City Council (TCC) democracy services manager Coral Hair said there was no election for regional councillors in 2019, which meant that TCC and Bay of Plenty DHB carried a greater share of the cost.
"The cost of an election was largely based on the number of issues being contested, the number of candidates and the number of electors," said Hair.
"As most electors use postal votes, the number of votes returned also influenced the total cost."
She said other reasons for the increased cost of the next election included the council offering more venues for special votes to be cast, and the price of postage increasing substantially since 2019.
"Tauranga City Council would also be running a campaign to encourage a diverse range of candidates to stand for office prior to the call for nominations in April 2024," said Hair.
A recent review of Tauranga's representation model highlighted the need for greater representation for all the city's communities.
The proposal for the next election was a single member wards model that included eight elected councillors from eight geographical wards, one elected from the Māori ward, and a mayor elected at large.
Tauranga City Council commission chair Anne Tolley said the proposal was simpler and "encourages greater representation between councillors and community groups".
"Historic failure to ensure that there was representation from across the city has led to community frustration," she said.
During long term plan engagement, the commission heard from communities who "felt they'd been ignored by previous councils," said Tolley.
The previous model consisted of 10 councillors and a mayor, there were three general wards with two positions available in each, four at-large positions and the mayor.
A decision about the proposed representation model would be made by the Local Government Commission by 11 April 2022.
Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air
