Collective Response to Auckland Council Budget 2023-24
Inspiring Communities and other community partners are supporting submissions to the Auckland Council 2023-2024 budget. Council is calling for submissions that offer suggestions that are “credible, affordable, sustainable and implementable” for reducing the deficit. Doing this requires a lot of reading and hard thinking so, rather than do it alone, let’s join up and do it together. We have until the 28th of March!
“The most important budget in years” * is open for submissions.
Mayor Brown’s Auckland Council 2023-24 Annual Budget proposes far reaching cuts, reductions in services and increases in fees and rates as Council aims to navigate a $295million deficit – and this is before costs associated with the Anniversary Weekend flooding and Cyclone Gabrielle are taken into account.
Much of the proposed budget will adversely affect communities, groups, organisations and service providers – halving Local Board spending; cancelling many regional events, economic development and social services; reducing bus services AND increasing the cost of public transport; cutting funding to community, arts, education and cultural activities.
What’s Proposed in Council’s Budget
The proposal cuts or reduces funding for:
- ECE
- education services (in libraries, experience centres and sustainability education)
- outdoor experiences supporting young people
- COMET
- the Southern and Western Initiatives
- sports, arts and culture programmes
- events (such as Music In Park and CultureFest)
- climate change initiatives
- council’s operational response to homelessness
- and much more
It also reduces community grant funding significantly and requires local boards to cut funding, which may result in less services being provided in community facilities, shorter opening hours and increased fees to use these facilities. The Spinoff published a useful summary that you can read here.
Council is calling for submissions that offer suggestions that are “credible, affordable, sustainable and implementable” for reducing the deficit. Doing this requires a lot of reading and hard thinking so, rather than do it alone, let’s join up and do it together. We have until the 28th of March!
Read about the submission and consultation process here
As many of us know, Council investment in communities and community infrastructure is essential for our City’s resilience and our ability to live good lives. Council’s investment also contributes to the achievement of more equitable outcomes for diverse parts of our community and leverages other investment, from central government, philanthropy and businesses.
Investment in community infrastructure needs to continue to be part of Council’s business as usual – especially now!
Join us online and/or in person to find out more about the situation and to workshop the most important things to focus on together so we can both reduce the deficit and invest in a community-focused city.
ONLINE: Thursday 16th 1-3pm Friday 17th 10am-12noon
IN PERSON: Friday 17th, 3-5pm. Senior Citizens Room, Fickling Centre
Council processes:
Public feedback is open from midday on 28 February until 11pm on 28 March. If you are a regional organisation or group working across more than one Local Board you can support your submission to be heard by Councillors by registering to address the Governing Body by signing up before the 20th of March.
Read about the submission and consultation process here
You can access Council’s consultation document here
There is also information about the Council’s budget proposal in the papers to the governing body here. The most relevant pages to community resourcing are 120 and 121.
*Quote from Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson