Thames-Coromandel mayor Sandra Goudie will not be standing for the role in the next local election.
"I've done 36 years in public office and I'm keen to retire," Goudie told the Bay of Plenty Times.
The mayor controversially refused to get the Covid-19 vaccine, Pfizer, last year, saying she would wait for the for Novavax injections instead.
However, when the one million doses arrived in the country earlier this year, Goudie would not get one.
Goudie, a former National Party MP for Coromandel, said out of all of her years in public office, local government had been "the best" with her favourite moments being out in the public helping people.