The committee this week approved a plan to construct a new information centre on land fronting State Highway 8B near the entrance to Cromwell, replacing the town's existing visitor centre within its mall complex.
Mr Gillespie said the decision potentially had a significant impact on ratepayers in the Cromwell ward, as it brought the administration and costs associated with some of the board's assets into question.
"The decision has the potential to push up rates in the Cromwell ward by a significant amount - as much as 5-10%.
"The minimum cost to run the information centre could be $100,000 a year, which is about a 5% increase on (Cromwell) rates, and that's not taking into account whatever it could cost ratepayers to keep the Lode Lane toilets, staff the museum, and possibly upgrade the mall," he said.
The Cromwell's visitor information centre is staffed and administered by the district - not the board - and at present staff also look after the Cromwell museum, which is situated in an attached building within the mall.
Mr Gillespie said if the centre moved, and its staff with it, the board would have to consider staffing the museum separately.
It would also lose its tenant (the CODC) in the present information centre building, he said.
The proposed new centre included public toilets, and Mr Gillespie said it was assumed those new toilets would become the district toilets within Cromwell - at present situated in Lode Lane near the mall.
He said if the district ceased administering the Lode Lane toilets, which required repair, the board would then have to consider whether demand warranted the retention and upgrade of the amenity block.
"It appears there is demand to keep the Lode Lane toilets and upgrade them, which has been planned for some time, but hasn't happened because effectively the money [$300,000] allocated by the district to upgrade them has been channelled into the new centre," Mr Gillespie said.
The board was also part-way through its plan to develop and upgrade the entire mall complex, which would have to be reconsidered due to the committee's decision, he said.
"There's now a lot of work to be done to consider possible implications, and I think it is a shame it wasn't done up-front, but it's possible some of the issues can be addressed as part of the implementation of a new centre," Mr Gillespie said.
