Nearly half the $97.2 million saved was one-off and must be found again next year
Auckland Council beat its $86 million savings target for 2025/2026, the city’s Deputy Mayor has announced.
Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson chairs the council’s Value for Money Committee, a committee Mayor Wayne Brown set up in November 2022 to run a line-by-line analysis of spending across the council group.
“No expenditure information, no matter how detailed and granular, should be withheld from the committee by any member of the Auckland Council group, including the port company,” Brown said at the time.
Simpson’s statement celebrated the council having saved $97.2 million against the $86 million target.
“The low hanging fruit is well and truly gone, so I don’t underestimate the challenge ahead of us,” Simpson said.
“Every dollar saved, and every unnecessary cost avoided, helps protect the services and infrastructure Aucklanders rely on, while reducing pressure on rates and debt,” she said.
“To put $97.2 million in context, that is greater than the rates revenue of 48 of the 78 councils in New Zealand.”
Of the $97.2 million, $49.9 million is enduring and $47.3 million is one-off and will have to be found again next year.
The primary driver behind the result was a line the officials called “unallocated savings from department-led efficiency improvements”, as well as detailed budget reviews.
How Auckland Council spends money has been in the news recently.
Howick ward councillor Bo Burns and North Shore councillor John Gillon both lost deputy chairmanships in a reshuffle the mayor announced on 3 August, weeks after the council adopted a 7.9 per cent rates rise.
Gillon moved a late amendment in June to wind that rise back to 5.9 per cent, and was beaten.
He said the recommendation to remove him “seems to have been based on my voting record on matters outside of that committee”.
Burns asked Brown across the Governing Body table to explain why he had demoted her and whether her voting record had contributed.
“You’ve chosen to make your decisions, and decisions have consequences,” Brown said.
Howick Local Board chair Bruce Kendall has also raised concerns about what the Board can afford to keep.
“Our budget is only about half the amount we need to maintain our existing assets,” Kendall wrote in his message accompanying the Board’s 2026/2027 local board agreement.
“The Howick Local Board must make difficult decisions this term, meaning we may need to decommission some popular assets.”
Staff warned the committee that “as savings targets increase, further savings are likely to require changes to service levels”, and that those changes need elected member decisions.
Simpson said the pressure was still building.
“We also have fuel price pressures, high inflation and interest rates which could see the real challenge build to over the $200 million per year mark,” she said.
“This means it is even more crucial that we control our costs and look for non-rates revenue.”
The savings target for 2026/2027 is $106 million.
A report on how it will be met goes to the committee in September.
