A Tauranga City Council committee has voted by a narrow margin to recommend a rates rise of 12.6 percent.
Councillors voted six to five for the increase.
Options before them today were for increases of between 5 percent and 18 percent, as the country's fastest-growing city faces a widening gap between paying for infrastructure and staying within its debt-to-revenue limit.
The decision now goes out for public consultation before a final decision in June.
