Chief executive Peter Kelly said while it was possible councils one day could receive royalties from mines, it would not be enough to eliminate the need for rates revenue.
That would bring around $100m and no-one would have to pay rates, Mr Quinn said.
Responding to questions from the ODT yesterday, Mr Kelly said the plan was not possible at present and even if the government did agree to share royalties with regions it was unlikely rates bills would disappear.
The government received 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, he said.
He noted Resources Minister Shane Jones said the government was open to a conversation about sharing mining royalties with territorial authorities.
"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 offset 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.
