A group of mobile coffee traders are steaming mad at Tauranga City Council's proposal to hike mobile trader user fees by more than 200 per cent - labelling the move 'unrealistic and unjustified”.

As part of council's 2014/15 draft annual plan councillors are looking to treble annual licence fees from $226 to $750 a year and annual Food Hygiene Regulation registration fees by $5 – a total increase of 233.2 per cent.

The Coffee Guy owner operators Gavin Brown and Michael Baxter. Photo: Tracy Hardy.

There are currently 200 mobile traders city wide generating $45,200 in revenue, with proposed changes set to increase that to $75,000. Council believe this increase, to an overall $1000, will be more in line with other council charges.

'I can live with a small increase because that has been the same since I have been doing it and that's five years,” says The Coffee Guy Tauranga owner operator Michael Baxter.

'I have checked with the Hamilton website and council are saying it's to keep in accordance with other councils and to me that seems cheaper. The Auckland one is $560 every six months but then again I would be happy to pay that if we had a population of three million.”

Instead of a 233.2 per cent licence increase, council should stagger the increases to give traders time to adjust to a more 'justified and realistic” licensing fee, says Michael.

Tauranga City councillor John Robson says the key principle is ensuring costs involved in providing the service from a council perspective are recovered by the city, for the city.

'Sometimes these costs are a little bit indirect; if you have a situation with mobile traders where they are performing quite well but other people are asking questions around ‘how come that mobile trader is trading there' and ‘how come I can't get parking',” says John.

'In effect these are all spill over costs that mobile traders are affecting us on and we have this conversation regularly. So this is our best estimate by this council of what the real costs for this council are for that opportunity that we provide but we do invite feedback. ”

John, Finance and Risk Committee chairman, says council's current state of finances shows they are not 'exactly the flushest” amongst other councils and they are looking at reasonable ways to improve this situation across the board.

'We know that our council is one of the more indebted in the country. We know that rates have been rising three times faster than inflation in the last decade. We know that the community want us to address costs.

'We have looked at what needs to be done and what's reasonable. And while one can look at percentage one must look at nominals; and in the context of a commercial trading operation I would hate to think $500 across a season or a licence year is a tipping point.”

The Coffee Guy Greerton owner-operator Gavin Brown says it is a bizarre approach from council and traders are bewildered.

Parking near Templeton Park on Fraser Street every morning, Gavin is still struggling to break even eight months after joining the franchise – let alone establish and grow his business.

The extra $500 annually means Gavin and Michael would have to make and sell an extra 111 coffees on average to recuperate increased costs.

'At the moment I am working seven days a week basically and I got into this as a lifestyle business and it's far from that at this stage,” says Gavin.

'Some people will look at it and go it is only $1200, but when you put yourself in my shoes it's a lot of money. I am having to travel to Matamata and further out of town to try and pick up jobs and it all adds up.”