{"id":349389,"date":"2026-03-26T20:51:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T20:51:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/349389\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T20:51:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T20:51:09","slug":"tauranga-council-plans-fee-hikes-for-burials-but-cheaper-cremations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/349389\/","title":{"rendered":"Tauranga council plans fee hikes for burials, but cheaper cremations"},"content":{"rendered":"

Burials and chapel fees, on the other hand, would increase 6%, including 3% for inflation. <\/p>\n

Examples given included the casket burial fee rising to $4511, ash burial to $1590 and chapel hire to $378.<\/p>\n

\"TaurangaTauranga City Council is proposing to increase the cost of casket burials to $4511. Photo \/ George Novak <\/p>\n

This was described in a staff report as a \u201cmoderate and manageable\u201d increase that would help maintain affordability for bereaved families.<\/p>\n

The council would still have to subsidise burial services, which would carry a $752,247 deficit.<\/p>\n

The report noted there would be an increase in demand for cremation services due to the reduction in cost.<\/p>\n

Matua-\u014ct\u016bmoetai ward councillor Glen Crowther was concerned people were heading to Hamilton and Rotorua for cheaper cremations. <\/p>\n

Hamilton City Council charges $695 and Rotorua Lakes Council $630 \u2013 hundreds of dollars less than Tauranga\u2019s current $979.<\/p>\n

He said Tauranga had some of the most expensive cremation services. <\/p>\n

\u201cOver 90% of people choose cremation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\u014ct\u016bmoetai\u014ct\u016bmoetai ward councillor Glen Crowther. Photo \/ David Hall<\/p>\n

He backed reducing the charge.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis would be giving a lot of benefit at a time of cost-of-living challenges.\u201d<\/p>\n

Te Papa ward councillor Rod Taylor said he was concerned the council was not doing enough to reduce burial costs.<\/p>\n

Mayor Mah\u00e9 Drysdale preferred the option recommended by staff, which increased all cemetery costs \u2013 bar cremation \u2013 by 3% for inflation, as this would create a lower deficit of $519,228.<\/p>\n

\"TaurangaTauranga Mayor Mah\u00e9 Drysdale. Photo \/ Jo Jones<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve just tried to save a whole lot more and you\u2019re adding another $250,000 to rates.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tauriko ward councillor Marten Rozeboom agreed: \u201cI don\u2019t think it\u2019s council\u2019s role to be a competitive business.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other proposed fee hikes<\/p>\n

Bay Venues<\/p>\n

\"BaywaveBaywave Aquatic memberships would increase from $631.40 to $671. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

Hikes of 5% to 16% have been drafted for Baywave, Greerton, Memorial and \u014ct\u016bmoetai pool entry fees. <\/p>\n

These were based on comparisons with similar facilities, the staff report said.<\/p>\n

The most significant jumps were at Baywave in Mount Maunganui, where a senior entry would rise $1 to $7.20, and child entry from $6.10 to $7.00.<\/p>\n

The cost for an adult swimmer would hit double figures, rising 60c to $10.30.<\/p>\n

Baywave Aquatic memberships would increase from $631.40 to $671, while memberships at Greerton, Memorial and \u014ct\u016bmoetai would increase from $404.70 to $427.80.<\/p>\n

Hire fees would increase at Baycourt, indoor sports centres, community halls, sports and recreation centres, community centres and Historic Village indoor venues.<\/p>\n

Animal Services<\/p>\n

Dog registration fees were set to rise by the level inflation. <\/p>\n

The cost of registrations paid before August 1 will increase $4 to $133, while those paid after the deadline would include a penalty fee and cost $199.50, a $6 increase. <\/p>\n

Registering a dog classified as dangerous would increase $6 for early birds and $8.80 after the deadline.<\/p>\n

\"TaurangaTauranga City Council has proposed an increase in impounding fees. Photo \/ Kelly O’Hara<\/p>\n

Microchip fees would go up $1 to $34. <\/p>\n

Impounding and kennel licence fees would also increase.<\/p>\n

A separate report on dog registration fees and charges for 2026\/27 will be presented to the council in April for adoption. <\/p>\n

Libraries<\/p>\n

With the new library, Te Manawataki o Te Papa, scheduled to open in late-2026, the council proposed new room-hire fees for spaces that will be available for public booking. <\/p>\n

\"Tauranga'sTauranga’s new library and community hub is due to be completed at the end of the year. Photo \/ Tauranga City Council<\/p>\n

An increase to the top title book charge is also proposed. The fee would increase from $3.00 to $3.50. <\/p>\n

Building services<\/p>\n

Building services are set for bigger increase than planned, which the council staff report said was necessary to address a forecast deficit of $3.6 million this year, down from $4.4m last year.<\/p>\n

The council previously agreed to increase fees by 5% annually for five years, but this year it proposes to add inflation of 3% on top of that to reduce the deficit to $1.2m. <\/p>\n

This would apply to all building services fees including building consents, site inspections, Code of Compliance Certificates and pre-application advice.<\/p>\n

Residential site inspections would go up $20 to $268 per hour, and up $21 to $284 for commercial. <\/p>\n

Swimming pool barrier inspection fees would rise from $189 to $204.<\/p>\n

Community feedback on the proposed changes will be sought from April 1 to May 1, with staff recommendations set to be presented at a council meeting on May 12.<\/p>\n

Fees would be finalised in June and come into effect on July 1.<\/p>\n

\u2013 LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.<\/p>\n

Ayla Yeoman<\/a> is a Local Democracy Reporting journalist based in Tauranga. She holds a Bachelor of Arts majoring in communications, politics and international relations from the University of Auckland, and has been a journalist since 2022.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Burials and chapel fees, on the other hand, would increase 6%, including 3% for inflation. Examples given included…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":349390,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[534,185566,185564,3013,6434,2516,4187,5205,174844,185565,5988,25349,2082,22220,100302,15220,111,43,139,69,2171,1321,1227,2951],"class_list":["post-349389","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-amid","tag-bereaved","tag-burials","tag-but","tag-cheaper","tag-concern","tag-cost","tag-council","tag-cremation","tag-cremations","tag-families","tag-fee","tag-for","tag-going","tag-hikes","tag-line","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-plans","tag-services","tag-tauranga","tag-town"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349389","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=349389"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/349389\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/349390"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=349389"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=349389"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=349389"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}