Increasing Route K tolls and library fees are among the first issues Tauranga City Councillors will face this year when council starts again on Tuesday morning.
These issues include a proposal to raise Route K tolls to $2 to match the toll for the planned eastern arterial highway.
Route K is not paying its way. Actual traffic volumes have been consistently less than the forecasts upon which it was built.

Route K toll booths. NZTA Picture.

Route K daily traffic volumes were expected to be more than 12,000 vehicles per day by now – nearly seven years after its opening in July 2003. Actual traffic volumes average 3,900 vehicles each day, or between 4,200 and 4,800 during week days.
City council's current Route K debt is $51.9 million and the total value of the infrastructure is $63.6 million. An additional $12.8 million will be added to that debt when the cost of the Pyes Pa bypass is transferred across upon its opening in July next year, which is also the date when an increased Route K toll will take effect – should the council decide.
Other items for Tuesday's discussion include a request from the Matua Bowling Club for $95,000 to help pay for an artificial green and the consideration of a report on reduced library services to save costs.
The council resolved in June last year to reduce library stocks. Current stock levels are about 2.63 items per head of population. Over the next two years the city libraries are expected to reduce that to 2.35 per head of population. It means reducing the books, DVDs and CDs by 30,000 items.
The main impact will be in the adult non-fiction collection, which is expected to be felt by students and informal learners.
The library staff budget is also expected to be cut by 10 per cent over three years, with greater reliance placed on volunteers.
There will also be an activity by activity review of councillors' Draft Annual Plan 'Christmas Packs”, which they are supposed to have been reading up on over the summer break.