Auckland Council considers selling assets to fill $270m shortfall

Auckland Deputy Mayor Desley Simpson. Photo / RNZ, Dan Cook

By RNZ

Auckland’s deputy mayor says the council will go line-by-line through its assets to try to fill its $270-million budget hole.

The estimated budget shortfall for the Auckland Council’s next financial year was due to revenue drops from Covid-19, rapid inflation and interest rate rises.

Deputy mayor Desley Simpson told Morning Report they “always knew” this year would be bad, but didn’t expect it to be quite that bad.

Simpson said the council was in a position to deal with the issue, with capacity and a number of options available.

The council has the ability to borrow as its debt to revenue is now below pre-Covid levels.

Other options would be discussed later in the week but selling off Auckland Airport shares was an option, she said.

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown with deputy Desley Simpson. Photo / RNZ

Simpson said if it was something mayor Wayne Brown wanted to do and councillors agreed, Aucklanders would also get a say.

She said Brown would go “line by line” to ensure every item council put money into was valued for its worth against what the council had the ability to offer.

“If we are sitting on something that isn’t delivering any benefit, we potentially should look at whether that is worth keeping.”

With regard to the airport shares, Simpson told Morning Report “a lot” of money was tied up in it but “we don’t sit at the table”.

Simpson reiterated that there was no intention of putting the shortfall onto Aucklanders through large hikes in rates.

Residents were dealing with a cost-of-living crisis and the council needed to be aware of that, she said.

- RNZ