And not enough ratepayers.
Tauranga City Council has too many managers (seagulls).
For the 2022-23 year there were 1033.0 full-time equivalent (FTE) employees working for Tauranga City Council (2023 Annual Report). Over the same period there were 190.5 managers (LGOIMA request 2024/q4/90524). This means that there are 843 non managerial staff, with one manager per 4.42 staff.
The average manager’s salary is $128,129, for a total salary cost of $24.4million per year. If you add in pensions and other benefits, plus the admin costs, the 2022-23 spend on managers is probably well over $30million per year.
By comparative metrics the normal ratio is about 10 to 12 staff per manager. Tauranga City Council should therefore be able to reduce the number of managers to less than half, saving at least $15million per year or more. We wouldn’t need boat ramp charges or user charges for clubs.
Management salary ranges for the top 20 managers are shown below (for 2024?)
| Position Title | Minimum | Maximum |
| Chief Executive | $444,260.00 | $601,058.00 |
| General Manager: Community Services | $296,194.00 | $400,733.00 |
| General Manager: Corporate Services | $296,194.00 | $400,733.00 |
| General Manager: Infrastructure | $296,194.00 | $400,733.00 |
| Chief Financial Officer | $275,374.00 | $372,564.00 |
| General Manager: City Development & Partnerships | $275,374.00 | $372,564.00 |
| General Manager: Regulatory & Compliance | $275,374.00 | $372,564.00 |
| General Manager: Strategy, Growth & Governance | $275,374.00 | $372,564.00 |
| Chief Digital Officer | $209,017.00 | $282,787.00 |
| Manager: City Planning & Growth | $209,017.00 | $282,787.00 |
| Manager: Finance | $209,017.00 | $282,787.00 |
| Manager: Spaces & Places | $209,017.00 | $282,787.00 |
| Director of Arts, Culture and Heritage | $192,228.00 | $260,074.00 |
| Director of Civic Development | $192,228.00 | $260,074.00 |
| Head of People, Performance and Culture | $192,228.00 | $260,074.00 |
| Manager: City Operations | $192,228.00 | $260,074.00 |
| Manager: Strategy & Corporate Planning | $192,228.00 | $260,074.00 |
| Capital Programme Manager: Major Community Amenity | $176,463.00 | $238,745.00 |
| Manager Performance, Monitoring & Assurance | $176,463.00 | $238,745.00 |
| Manager: Strategic Property | $176,463.00 | $238,745.00 |
The Tauranga City Council organisation needs to be restructured. It is bloated and ineffective. Tauranga council has the lowest approval rating of any council in New Zealand ( see Scoop and The Post).
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