City councillors took the next step towards taking the proposal for a replacement city council administration block to the electorate, receiving the report which recommends the council build itself a new civic administration building.

They stopped short of adopting the report which offers three options which the councilors are expected to first take to the public.

A decision on whether to build or renovate will be made next week.

Councillors supported Mayor Stuart Crosby's motion for the council to officially receive the massive amount of data amassed so far in the Civic Heart project.

'The reason why I support receiving it rather than adopting it is that it will change, it will be populated throughout the course of this exercise with new and updated information,” says Stuart.

'There is still transportation information which is critical in my view to be populated within this business case.

'And I have absolutely no doubt that there are some of you and myself that may not agree with some of the assumptions in it.

'It is a good document. It is a robust document and it has the best up to date information at this point in time. But there are also assumptions in there and we all have different views on some of those assumptions.

'The critical element is our next meeting proposed on June 15, where we will decide which elements to go out for public consultation on.”

The report sorts the new council civic administration building into three project options with estimated costs of $89.4 million over five years, $132 million over 10 years and $195 million over 15 years.

Option one, is for a new civic administration building and a refurbished library.

Option two, includes a new museum and library on the central city block.

Option three, includes the new museum, library and performance venue.

Councillor Steve Morris illustrated the assumptions issue, challenging what he says is an underlying bias in the report's ranking of objectives:

He says too much emphasis is placed on having a vibrant city rather than the efficient and effective delivery of council services.

'In my view the issue that we have before us is one of a lack of maintenance,” says Steve. 'A lack of investment in buildings which house our staff.”

He says it has been known for years by council managers the buildings leaked.

'And so we as a council were confronted with a terrible thing that came out of the closet in regard to the status of that building and how unacceptable it is going forward.”

He questioned the proposed $6.8million to be spent on the civic square and Masonic Park as part of the rebuild, saying the council could give future generations of ratepayers a break by not borrowing.

The estimated establishment costs for the preferred way forward over the period to 2025 are $66,936,000 uninflated (or $71,622,000 inflated).

This programme business case seeks formal approval to pursue a suite of projects to transform the two-hectare council-owned site at 91, Willow Street into the Civic Heart for Tauranga City.

It follows New Zealand's Treasury Better Business Cases methodology and is organised around the five case models: Strategic Case, Economic Case, Financial Case, Commercial Case and Management Case.

The Programme Business Case recommends the following preferred way forward:

• A new civic administrative building enabling Tauranga City Council to address its immediate office accommodation issues and provide an efficient and effective workplace for the staff and governance of the organisation

• Associated open space

• The development of detailed business cases for a library, museum and performance venue.

The Programme Business Case established, in order to maximise the benefits of these potential investments, the projects proposed should be activated on the Council owned site at Willow St.

The civic administrative building and associated open space were selected as the case for investment is supported and they are investment ready.