Just 257 submissions were received this year - a quarter of what was received last year.
Mayor Dave Cull said in past years there had been popular issues such as the Forsyth Barr Stadium or the closure of John Wilson Ocean Drive, but this year there was no single contentious issue.
The biggest issues this year were concern over fluoride in the town water supply and calls for a new Mosgiel pool.
''I guess you could cautiously say the low turnout of submissions could be read as approval for the direction the council is going in,'' Mr Cull said.
Former Dunedin Ratepayers Association president Syd Adie said ''people are being fooled'', they were ''apathetic'' and there was no effective ratepayers' voice at the moment.
''People think 'rates are only 4%, why should I worry about it?' but when you look at all the things they have put up, you might as well have had rates at 8% and been done with it.
''The normal working man, he looks at his rates first and he thinks ... 'Gee, they kept that down' but he doesn't think when he gets in his car and goes to the tip that he has got an extra wallop on there.''
Mr Cull said the council had gone to a lot of effort to consult people about what they wanted before putting its annual plan together and he hoped the low response was a good sign.
''I am saying that cautiously. I can't just say we have got [few submissions] so they must all like it.''
Last year, 1024 submissions received included those directed at the council's Long Term Plan, which sets out the future direction of the city.
In the 2011-12 year there were 985 submissions and 655 of those were about John Wilson Ocean Drive.
In the 2010-11 year there were 746 submissions and in the 2009-10 year there were 812, of which 491 were from those opposed to the stadium.
