Councils want the Government to change the law so the Ministry of Health is responsible for deciding if fluoride should be added to drinking water.
The remit was passed at the annual conference of local councils, held in Nelson this weekend.
Councils in Hamilton and South Taranaki have recently found themselves in expensive court battles with anti-fluoride campaigners.
Local Government New Zealand president Lawrence Yule said the councils wanted the decision on whether to fluoridate public water supplies left to the director-general of health.
He said councils were not considered health experts in this area, and they were involved because they owned the water supply which the fluoride was put into.
"The conference voted by a majority to say that actually it should be a public health issue that's controlled by the Government through the director-general of health or the DHBs."