BY-ELECTIONS to replace members of Mirfield Town Council may add at least £6,000 to annual running costs, it is said.
Clr Chris Oldfield, chairman of the council's finance committee, said a recent by-election in the Battyeford ward had cost £2,000.
In the past, when a town councillor gave up his or her seat, a replacement was co-opted on to the council by mutual agreement of the parties concerned.
But a by-election can be called by any councillor, if supported by 10 people from the ward.
Now, Labour councillor Michael Hutchinson - his party's only member on the town council - and the British National Party have expressed their intentions to call for a by-election every time a seat becomes vacant.
This will add an extra burden on Mirfield taxpayers, says Clr Oldfield.
"The first we heard of the Battyeford by-election was when Kirklees Council informed us," he added.
"It cost us £2,000 and there was a turnout of about 2,000 people," said Clr Oldfield.
"If councillors intend to hold a by-election every time there is a vacancy we must allow for it in our annual budget.
"We are looking at quite an appreciable percentage of our budget taken up with by-elections, which could be filled with co-opted people," he said.
"We have had two vacancies and following Clr Roger Roberts's assurance that he will resign and fight for his seat as a BNP candidate in the next three or four months, we are assured of at least another election."
Clr Oldfield called for the finance committee to review budgets for election costs.
