At a meeting in Alexandra Mark Quinn, of Roxburgh, said as mayor he would levy big business, such as the proposed gold mine, near Bendigo, 2% on turnover.
That would bring around $100m and no-one would have to pay rates, Mr Quinn said.
Responding to questions from the CO News Central Otago district chief executive Peter Kelly said the plan was not currently possible and even if the government agreed to share royalties with regions it was unlikely rates bills would disappear.
The government received the 2% in mining royalties under the Crown Minerals Act and not the territorial authority where the mine was located. There was no capacity for the council to levy any royalty on a mining company, Mr Kelly said.
However, Minister for both Regions and Resources Shane Jones has said the government was open to a conversation about sharing mining royalties with territorial authorities and the government’s Mineral Strategy for New Zealand to 2024 says "regional deals package implemented [royalty shares to regions]", under the delivery roadmap.
"This is up for negotiation under the Otago Central Lakes Regional Deals framework and is under the pillar Capturing Value where the three participating councils are seeking a portion of the mining royalties."
Using any future royalties to off-set rates take would be a decision for the council of the day, Mr Kelly said.
However, it was likely royalties would be invested in infrastructure, which would then not have to be funded from either rates or increased debt, so it would have a positive benefit on ratepayers, he said.
