Former mayor Tony Bonne has added his voice to the opponents of Whakatāne District Council's proposed average rates rise of 17.1 per cent, saying it's “unacceptable”.

“As a past mayor of the Whakatane district, I always told members of the community I would not make a submission as I have had my time as an elected politician,” he told the council recent hearing of submissions for the Long-term Plan 2024-34, appearing via Zoom.

“What is different this year is that I have so many people talking to me with concerns about our community’s direction. The community is saying very loudly that this is unacceptable.”

He questioned the council’s staffing levels, which have risen since his two stints as mayor, from 1995 to 1998 and again from 2010 to 2019.

“The first thing you look at is all your costs, with the first and major cost being staffing levels. We are seeing this at the central government level, where many cuts are taking place and mainly cuts that are not affecting service levels.

"I take it you have done this? I just hope that this budget is not designed to take on more staff,”

He questioned whether the additional staffing of the past few years was absolutely necessary, making particular mention of the isite, now that its biggest revenue stream of White Island tours was gone.

“No doubt the elected members will be aware of what the isite is now costing the community. Is this affordable? Does anyone use isites now? If you are like me, you go to your computer that is in your pocket to obtain any information."

He urged the council to delay any upcoming projects.

“Can we sweat the assets further to delay some of the projects where the costs of the projects have increased way above the inflation rate?”

He also recommended creating a community-controlled trading organisation to take control of all the council’s revenue-producing assets, such as the Harbour Board land, airport, isite and motor camps, to be run by appointed directors with a track record of commercial success.

He said this idea had been looked into during his time as mayor.

Former Whakatāne mayor Tony Bonne says the proposed 17.1 per cent average rates rise is unacceptable. Beacon file photo.

“When I retired, I was informed by our current CEO that, 'we will work on this initiative and get it in place’. Alas, nothing happened. That is to our community's loss,” Mr Bonne said.

He questioned what the council was doing with properties such as the Strand East bar and grill site, the former Wally Sutherland site, which appeared to be “just sitting there”.

He acknowledged the challenges faced by councils, with successive governments reducing subsidies.

"I believe you will need to stand up to the central government and demand other funding streams with one example being able to receive the GST on rates that the mayors of Auckland and Christchurch have suggested."

Whakatāne District Council has stated in its consultation document that like other councils it is facing inflationary pressures, with its cost of doing business inflating by much more than the average consumer.

Increasing costs of compliance demands from central government and the lack of past investment in critical infrastructure will require some big spending in the next few years.

The need to develop resilience to extreme weather events has also been cited as a reason for rates rises, as well as continuing to "develop and support a vibrant district and look for opportunities to facilitate economic regeneration".

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.