Western Bay of Plenty District councillors have topped a national pay rise table with a jump of almost 57% in a year.
By Ayla Yeoman for Local Democracy Reporting
The Taxpayers’ Union described the increase as “so far out of touch”, but the district’s mayor pointed to factors such as there being fewer councillors, and the salary pool allocation is out of the council’s control.
The average salary of Western Bay of Plenty District Council members for 2025/26 was $80,822, up from $51,525 the year before, according to the Taxpayers’ Union Council Pay Rise Dashboard.
This 56.86% increase was the highest of any council, followed by Queenstown Lakes, up 33.13%. The average increase nationwide was 9.81%.
The table used data from the Remuneration Authority, the independent agency that sets the pay for key public office holders.
In local government, the authority sets salaries for mayors and allocates each council a governance remuneration pool, which the council decides how to divide among councillors.
Western Bay’s pool was set at $566,779 in 2024/25, to be divided among 11 councillors.
This was increased to $727,395 for 2025/26, split among nine councillors after the district’s representation review changed its structure.
Western Bay of Plenty District Council governance manager Robyn Garrett said the council was awaiting final approval from the authority for its proposed division of the pool.
“The pool is proposed to be allocated with $100,000 remuneration for the Deputy Mayor, $85,000 for the two committee chairpersons and the remainder divided evenly between the other councillors, at $76,232.50.”
Remuneration Authority chairman Geoff Summers said remuneration pools were determined through a review of sizing indexes, which are based on key factors including population, operating expenditure, asset value and socioeconomic deprivation.
“Western Bay of Plenty District Council’s size index increased with this review, taking into account those four factors along with the fact that the authority increased the estimation of each councillor’s work commitment.”
Summers said the law required elected members’ salaries to be fair to both the councillors and the taxpayers.
He said the authority was used to set the pay of councillors to protect them from local political pressure that could create a system where elected members were not paid fairly.
Councils proposed how to allocate their remuneration pools, and must allocate all the money.
“The authority does not automatically approve all proposals... As long as the proposal fully allocates the [pool] and all the other aspects appear reasonable, the authority will approve proposals.”
He said the system came from an extensive 2018 review of local government remuneration, which included wide consultation.
He said the system was complex because the local government sector was “extremely complex”, with extensive variability between even similar-sized councils.
New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union head of policy and legislative affairs, James Ross, said the councillors’ average pay increase was “about 22 times the rate of inflation”.
He said, in his opinion: “More than a 50% pay rise in a single year is so far out of touch with how most Kiwis are doing it at the minute.”
He said the problem was the system and ratepayers not having enough input into the process.
“Theoretically, residents have no influence at all,” he said.
“We’d like to see this approach, where councillors can wash their hands and say ‘this wasn’t our decision’, brought to an end.”
He suggested the council should set councillors’ salaries so ratepayers could have input.
“I don’t know a single ratepayer who thinks a 56% increase in salary in a single year is justified.
“If councillors think the increase is unfair, they can pay it back.”
Western Bay of Plenty Mayor James Denyer said the pool reflected the size and complexity of the district and the responsibilities of governance.
“Following the recent representation review, there are fewer councillors, meaning the same pool is shared among fewer people.
“We understand that cost-of-living pressures and wage negotiations in other sectors are front of mind for many in our community,” Denyer said.
“These allocations are not set by [the council] – they are part of a legislated process designed to ensure all councils across Aotearoa New Zealand can attract and retain people to fulfil governance roles that carry significant accountability for community outcomes.”
He said the authority’s process ensured consistency and fairness across all local authorities in New Zealand.
The mayor’s salary was also set separately by the authority at $164,382, an 8.82% increase.
– LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
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