Tauranga's Rugby World Cup commitments are to be discussed today at a special Tauranga City Council meeting called for the purpose.

The cash strapped council is already committed to paying for part of the Rugby World Cup celebrations, but the dollar amount has not been disclosed.

The commitment stems from Rotorua, Tauranga and Whakatane councils' bid for RWC matches at Baypark.

The bid failed, but the document formed the basis of a Host Region Agreement signed in February 2009, confirming Tauranga's intention to host teams.

The agreement, which is a contract with Rugby New Zealand, contained budget information and detailed expected expenditure, but the amounts have not appeared in the city's annual plan.

'What has happened is the proposed allocation failed to get into the annual plan, which is an administrative error by management,” says Mayor Stuart Crosby.

One of the proposals to rectify the situation is to take money from existing budgets to pay for the RWC obligations.

The amount of the city council's contribution is yet to be determined, says Stuart, but he says it is not major.

'From my perspective, certainly from 18 months onwards I have been asking for the staff to minimise our financial contribution, but still provide an adequate event because it is a large event for New Zealand,” says Stuart.

'So to that end we have been using some in kind, other groups have got funding from an external agency which is good.

'The council is yet to determine our contribution but at this stage the decision is yet to be made, but it is proposed that it is used from existing budgets.

'There are still negotiations to happen with Rugby World Cup on our commitments. 'Once that is complete we need to find a funding source.”

Councillor Murray Guy says issues needing to be discussed today include how such situations get sprung on the council.

'I hope today we will get answers to some of those questions,” says Murray.

'That's why I felt it needed to be out in the open so that not only ourselves but the community at large can understand.

'How is it that we got ourselves in this position? This goes back to 2009 it's not just an administrative blip – this has obviously been around on the books for some time so hopefully we will get the answers today.”

He says it will be up to elected members to ask the appropriate questions 'if they have got the will”.

Tauranga could have gotten off lightly, says Murray.

Hamilton City Council signed up for some RWC games and found the stadium lighting required $450,000 of unbudgeted work to bring it up to standard.

'Wouldn't it make interesting reading, the terms that we offered to secure some games,” says Murray.

Tauranga is allocated to host Samoa, Fiji and Russia during September.

Lottery grants worth $91,000 are available for four events in the Western Bay of Plenty: Experience Katikati, Tarnished Frocks and Divas, Tauranga Arts Festival and the REAL Tauranga Festival.

The REAL festival is being run on The Strand for one to six weeks – depending on funding and compliance issues.

The intention is to work with businesses on The Strand to create a festival atmosphere, and present The Strand as a destination for fans and tourists, including fans travelling by cruise ship.