Locals brace as budget proposals move forward

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown’s proposals for an austerity budget could have far reaching impacts on local communities, and already the local board and community groups are worried.

At the governing body’s December 15 meeting, Mayor Brown’s budget proposals were considered and moved to the next stage, which will involve public consultation.

The focus for the Mayor was finding ways to meet Auckland Council’s budget shortfall of $295m while keeping rates as low as possible.

The proposal includes a 5 percent cut to local board operational budgets. The Mayor has suggested that local boards could reduce spending on projects, programmes and services, postpone spending on assets and find administrative efficiencies.

A $20 million cost reduction across regional services is also proposed, as well as scrapping the regional contestable grants that are funded through general rates.

The closing of Council’s Kauri Kids childhood education services, including the one at Stanmore Bay Leisure Centre, is also on the table and caused an outcry when the budget was first released last month.

Services that may be affected by cuts to regional spending include arts, education and community programmes, regional events and economic development. 

Potentially, levels of service such as mowing and garden maintenance could reduce. Cuts to the Natural Environment and Water Quality targeted rates (by two-thirds) could impact local environmental initiatives.

Hibiscus & Bays Local Board deputy chair Julia Parfitt says while details are still unclear, the effects of all this could be felt widely across the community including libraries, leisure centres and parks, as well as community groups such as the HBC Youth Centre and Estuary Arts Centre.

This newspaper has been contacted by community organisations concerned after receiving an email from council about what might be coming.

“We understand that the proposed changes can be unsettling and want to support our partners through this as much as we can,” the email said.

“People are right to be worried,” Parfitt says.

She says the 5 percent cut to local board funding would equate to a reduction of around 50 percent in the money it has to spend on local projects (which it calls locally driven initiatives). 

The board has requested more information, including financials for the local Kauri Kids. Parfitt says obtaining this kind of detail, which the local board is not normally provided with, is one bonus of the budget proposals.

“For example, we don’t know how profitable or otherwise Kauri Kids and the Leisure Centre is locally but now we can look at that information, and use it when giving feedback on the budget,” Parfitt says.

She says cutting regional grant funding would put huge pressure on local grants, which are already over-subscribed.

Local board members will discuss the proposals further at a workshop on January 31.

The proposed budget is for the 2023/24 financial year, so any changes would start from July 2023, and do not affect contracted activity for this financial year (finishing June 2023).

The annual plan goes back to the governing body next month and will be open for public consultation from late February for around a month. After consultation is considered, a final plan will be presented to Council for voting on.