Rates in Wellington city could be bumped up by 9.2 per cent as coronavirus is set to have a negative affect on local households and businesses.

In Wellington City Council's annual plan agenda, two options were put forward to councillors who will be making decisions on the plan on Thursday.

The options would be considered with coronavirus in mind, as it "provides uncertainty and will have a negative economic impact on households and businesses in the year ahead".

There was a "high resilience" option of 9.2 per cent which included additional funding for Wellington Water Limited and Te Ngākau Civic Square while another option, without this extra funding, would be 7.9 per cent.

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On Sunday, the capital city had its first coronavirus case confirmed when an Australian man flew to Wellington before receiving the results of his coronavirus test.

The 9.2 per cent proposal was made up of 5.2 per cent for day-to-day services and the impact of increasing asset values and ownership, 0.9 per cent for Let's Get Wellington Moving and 3.1 per cent for resilience-related projects including water and Civic Square.

ROSA WOODS/STUFF Part of the 9.2 per cent rates proposal would go towards Civic Square.

Water pipes across the city have collapsed and burst. In December, a wastewater pipe underneath Willis St collapsed and caused more than two olympic-sized pools of wastewater to spill into Wellington Harbour.

Repairs are still ongoing, blocking off the major centre-city road.

Another failure at Mt Albert caused a major sewerage pipe to break, forcing trucks to cart sewage sludge 24 hours a day from the Moa Point treatment centre to the Southern Landfill.

The Central Library has been closed since March after engineering advice suggested the building may not perform during an earthquake - since then, Civic Square has been empty with attempts to revitalise the area with things such as a pop-up outdoor library.

ROSA WOODS/STUFF Water pipes across the city have collapsed and burst which has caused ongoing construction, and maintenance.

Wellington mayor Andy Foster said the rates proposal of 9.2 per cent was high.

"It's the kind of thing normally I'd be uncomfortable with but Wellingtonians are saying very strongly they want the city fixed, particularly around the three waters network and Civic Square.

The proposed 9.2 per cent rates rise meant Wellington City Council could detect leaks, asses pipe conditions and check private connections.

He called Civic Square "the heart of the city and Wellington City Council needed to plan for its future. If you don't invest, you can't do those things.

ROSS GIBLIN/STUFF Wellington mayor Andy Foster says the rates proposal of 9.2 per cent is the kind of thing he is normally uncomfortable with but Wellingtonians have told him they want the city fixed.

When asked about the rates proposal during a turbulent time in New Zealand, Foster said the annual plan was still a draft at the moment.

The council had to debate the draft itself and then it would go through consultation which meant the final number could be different, he said.

Foster has asked chief executive Barbara McKerrow to look at options for how any rates impact could be reduced which would be reported on in June.

Councillor Fleur Fitzsimons said "the timing couldn't be worse for residents and businesses".

"No matter what the rates bill is, the council needs to be proactively setting up options for businesses and residents to defer paying rates".

The final recommendations including the decision on the proposed rates increase, will be adopted by Wellington City Council on April 2.

The public would be able to have their say from April 3 to May 10 before the annual plan was officially adopted on June 24.