Tauranga City Council's decision this week to cut back on previously advertised rates increases is seeing city councillors becoming cautious about committing to other spending decisions.

The city library has been left on the table, while councillors have a think about it.

Some of the opposition is based on the $42 million price.

Councillor Leanne Brown says she's uncomfortable with the $42 million price tag, in light of the 3.8 per cent rates cap councillors agreed to. This is down from 9.6 per cent that was consulted on.

'The people in the room need to know that we are working in a much smaller envelope than we were, and because of that decision I'm personally uncomfortable with a $42 million library,” says Leanne.

'I always said I preferred to have a museum combined with a library but located beside it, not integrated.”

Catherine Stewart also gave the rates cap as her reason for not voting for it.

Describing the $42 million library as ‘aspirational', Steve Morris says in reality it will not happen because there is a local body election in 16 months' time.

'The reality is in my view, a $42 million library will not survive that process and therefore will not occur.”

It's a repetition of the same mistake, as going out to the public with a $55 million museum proposal, says Steve.

John Robson says he sees a lack of ability or willingness to compromise, the same thing that sank a museum in 2007.

He suggested it lay on the table, so the council can have a library the community can afford.

Max Mason firmly believes in the two per cent rates cap, but adds that if councillors invested more in the city in previous years 'there wouldn't be all the cracks in our community that we have now”.

'We wouldn't have the transport problems, we wouldn't have issues with sporting facilities, and particularly with arts and cultural facilities.

'Now, we're going down the route again, déjà vu; looking at the lowest cost to try and create a community for the future. This isn't the way to go about it.

"We should be a bold city. There's lots of confidence at the moment out and we should be investing in or community right now. Particularly with arts and culture. That's what we lack at the moment.”

Kelvin Clout supports a new library but says the price is a bit of a stretch. He thinks the community has got to the point where it is prepared to pay for modern community facilities.

'I think we should be investing in the community facilities before we invest in our own administration building,” says Kelvin.

'The size will enable the council to shift its chambers and customer service area in the meantime while we decant from this site.”

City transformation committee chair Larry Baldock says if they don't provide the community what it has asked for, an awful lot of money will have been wasted on consultants' reports.

'We need to go ahead with delivering as requested by the submitters in this Long Term plan,” says Larry.

While the current library proposal costs more than twice the museum investment, the council cannot simply abandon the project as it has done with the museum.

The existing library building has well flagged issues and, on the advice of consultants hired to look at the existing building's prospects, the council already decided to demolish it in August 2017.

The recommended new stand-alone library at Willow St, with a capped $25m Council contribution, went out for public consultation in the LTP.

The proposed new library has become one of the most favoured choices in the LTP submissions, says Larry.

The feedback from the community on the library is clear and he proposes the council support the staff recommendation, and include some exhibition space.

'So at long last some the collection we have been caring for can be seen by more people than the staff at Newton Rd and the occasional visitors,” says Larry.

The LTP consultation response has 32 per cent support or a stand-alone library on Willow Street, and 41 per cent for a larger future proofed library, which gives a combined 73 per cent support, says Larry.

An integrated museum and library has only 26 per cent support. Of the 970 LTP submitters against a museum, 73 per cent were in favour of a library.

'At 0.6 per cent of the 10 year Long Term Plan budget on Capital Expenditure and 1.3 per cent of operational expenditure, the Library will not be affecting Council's ability to address many of our other important priorities, a concern expressed by some submitters,” says Larry.