Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown says today’s first business meeting of Auckland Council’s Governing Body is the start of “a battle against rate rises and service cuts”.

Auckland Council faces a $270 million budget hole which must be filled to avoid 12% rates rises next year.

Mayor Brown has warned that Aucklanders face “an economic and fiscal storm” next year, with many households facing a tripling of their weekly interest payments on their mortgages.

“At Auckland Council, we must take every step available to us to not add to Aucklanders’ agony,” Mayor Brown said this morning, ahead of the Governing Body meeting.

“We need to roll up out sleaves and get stuck in to find the savings we need to protect Aucklanders from the economic storm ahead, and maintain the essential services Aucklanders value.”

The Governing Body meeting starts at 10am in the Auckland Town Hall. It will be livestreamed on the council’s YouTube channel and the agenda is available here.

The main item for discussion today is the context setting and process report for the council’s Annual Budget 2023/2024. This report sets out current financial projections for the Auckland Council group, including the estimated $270 million funding gap the council currently faces.

Following the Governing Body meeting, the Mayor and Councillors will spend much of the rest of the day in a workshop, which Mayor Brown says is a chance for he and councillors to have “a free and frank discussion of options to raise the $270 million”.

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