Pat Bourke and councillors Shaun Whitechurch and David Fahey have told The Border Mail they will be seeking re-election at the municipal poll in September.

Councillors Aaron Nicholls and David Longley will not stand again, while Rowena Black, Gail Law, Sally Hughes and Andrew Kennedy are undecided.

Cr Bourke said given the council had been granted approval for a 19 per cent rate rise this financial year and a 17 per cent hike in 2024-25 as part of a special rates variation it would be poor form to depart now.

He also cited the need to follow through on reform recommendations proposed as part of a council assessment by Professor Joseph Drew in 2023.

"This council is committed to special rate variations only because they have to, for the future of the council, so it would be pretty ordinary for me to pull out now," Cr Bourke said.

"There's still a lot of work to do, I believe that council is doing a great job turning around their finances, as per Professor Drew we're putting the council into a great shape for the future, but there's still more work to do, whether it's planning or environment or whatever it is."

The NSW Environment Protection Authority recently issued an official caution to the council over treated effluent flowing into the Murray River, linked to saturated grounds, and failing to notify the watchdog in a particular timeframe.

Cr Bourke added he planned to stand again for mayor, while deputy mayor Shaun Whitechurch also aims to recontest his leadership role.

Morundah-based Cr Fahey said he expected to again be on the ticket of Cr Bourke, who like him lives in the former Urana Shire.

Both are keen to see a mechanism adopted which would allow for ongoing councillor representation from the old local government area.

Cr Nicholls moved to the Gold Coast in January, having relocated his interior design and architecture business with Phillip Nielsen after failing to secure a wide variety of work while based in Corowa.

"Having spent seven years there trying to change the world through better design, we found we were stuck in the residential paradigm, because the job of the local architect is pretty redundant," Cr Nicholls said, pointing to large scale enterprises such as banks or schools which interact with bigger firms.

Cr Nicholls described his time on council as "fantastic", pointing to the revitalisation of the Corowa Art Space and Murray Darling Basin Association representation as highlights.

He has been attending council meetings by videolink, but plans to appear in person again before the election.

Cr Longley said he believed it was time to retire from council and he hopes other Howlong residents will seek office.

Cr Law said she would most likely leave the council, having served a total of 16 years with Federation and Corowa, but her final decision is to be made after determining how many others nominate.

Cr Kennedy said his continuation on council was tied to nominations from Mulwala, while Cr Black stated she would "probably be running again".

She said she was keen to oversee a more efficient planning department which operates more smoothly for staff and the community.