The Act Party has called for Tauranga City Council's commissioners to hand power back to elected officials and stop "acting like dictators", following recent discussions around locking the city into a 10-year budget.

Former Tauranga mayor Greg Brownless recently called on Local Government Minister Simeon Brown to limit the city’s commission powers ahead of the city council election this year.

He stated that, in his view, the commission could entrench decisions and contracts “for which they have no community mandate and which will unfairly bind a new council” expected to be elected in July.

Brownless, who said he was undecided about whether he would stand in that election, said: “The issue isn’t whether the commissioners have done a bad or good job, it’s that democracy is a principle that should not be withheld or frustrated.”

Now, Act's local government spokesperson and Tauranga resident Cameron Luxton has joined the chorus of calls for the council's commissioners to step back.

"For too long, Nanaia Mahuta’s commissioners have been given free rein to commit ratepayers to major long-term spending projects," he said in a statement.

"With commissioners committing hundreds of millions of dollars to projects like the city centre transformation, they’ve acted more like dictators than caretakers."

Luxton claimed that Tauranga's city centre "will look like chump change" when compared to the spending locked in under the upcoming Long-Term Plan and its associated contracts.

"The 10-year plan should be the role of elected leadership, who are at least held accountable every three years to the households paying the bills," he said on behalf of his party.

"National and Act both campaigned on restoring democracy to Tauranga. I’m asking [Simeon Brown] to take steps to delay the Long-Term Plan and its associated contracts until after democratic leadership is established in July."

Brown, however, told the Herald earlier that the commission has the same decision-making powers and community consultation obligations as an elected council.

Brown said that, as minister, he wanted to see “local democracy restored for the people of Tauranga”. He said the commission’s terms of reference provided it with the same decision-making powers “and consultation obligations” as an elected council.

“I expect to see the wider community consulted on any significant decisions, just as would happen under an elected council," he said.

“No council has the ability to bind the next council to any particular direction or actions.”

The commission, like elected councils, was required to deliver a 2024/34 Long-term Plan. This meant the council was expected to make progress on infrastructure issues and this would require long-term contractual arrangements, Brown said.