Geelong voters will no longer pick mayor

Geelong ratepayers might no longer be able to directly vote for their mayor after the entire council was sacked amid bullying and dysfunction allegations.

A bill setting a new structure of 11 councillors who would then elect the mayor and deputy from within their ranks was tabled in state parliament on Tuesday.

The number of wards would also shrink from 12 to four.

If the laws pass, the structure would come into force when a new council is elected in an October poll.

In announcing the bill, Local Government Ministers Natalie Hutchins said the new structure would make savings for the city's budget.

The savings will come from fewer allowances for councillors and the mayor will also take a pay cut.

"I think this is the best system that we can put in place to assure we turn around the culture and we give some certainty to the future of Geelong," she told reporters.

The structure was recommended by the Geelong Citizens' Jury, which was formed after the sacking last year and residents were consulted.

The Geelong council and its flamboyant mayor Darryn Lyons were booted out by the state government in April last year after an independent Commission of Inquiry report aired abuse allegations involving Mr Lyons and other councillors.

Mr Lyons was directly voted mayor under a short-lived system between 2012 and 2016.