'We’ll be in this dance next year': Local Pacific councillor fears future rates funding squeeze

A temporary funding reprieve from Auckland Council won't stop some difficult decisions for South Auckland communities in the future, a councillor warns.

Auckland Council stepped in this month with a temporary funding fix to ease millions in local board budget pressures.

It meant affected Auckland local boards could drop plans for targeted rates and service cuts - for now.

Manukau ward councillor Lotu Fuli said dropping proposed targeted rates for Māngere-Ōtāhuhu and Ōtara-Papatoetoe solved only an immediate problem.

“We’ll be in this dance next year,” she said.

“We can’t keep covering the shortfall year upon year. There’s something wrong with the model itself. So it’s the Mayor’s fairer funding model that I personally think is the problem.”

The Budget and Performance Committee approved Mayor Wayne Brown’s proposal on Tuesday, including a one-off measure to address an approximate $6 million funding gap under the council's new "fairer funding" model.

The Mayor’s proposal, including a 7.9 per cent average rates increase, was later backed by the Governing Body.

That meant Māngere-Ōtāhuhu and Ōtara-Papatoetoe no longer needed to proceed with targeted rates.

South Auckland communities have avoided targeted rates for now after Auckland Council approved a temporary funding solution. Photo/File.

Council reports say part of the temporary funding fix came from some local boards shifting operating budgets into capital spending, freeing up money to help cover funding pressures elsewhere.

The temporary funding solution applies only to 2026/27 and does not address longer-term funding pressures, according to council documents.

Earlier this month, Auckland Council Group chief financial officer Ross Tucker told Local Democracy Reporting all seven local boards facing cost pressures were offered options including targeted rates, service reductions or increased fees.

Māngere-Ōtāhuhu and Ōtara-Papatoetoe were the only boards that chose to consult communities on targeted rates.

Other boards instead consulted on service changes or higher fees.

Consultation feedback suggested there was little appetite for additional charges in South Auckland.

Auckland Council’s 2026/27 Annual Plan consultation included targeted rate proposals to address funding shortfalls faced by some local boards. Photo/Auckland Council.

Māngere-Ōtāhuhu Local Board said submissions “overwhelmingly opposed” both the proposed 7.9 per cent rates increase and a standalone targeted rate, describing them as unaffordable and inequitable.

In Ōtara-Papatoetoe, feedback highlighted affordability concerns, opposition to rates increases and calls for council to focus on core services and reduce spending.

Fuli said the targeted rate reflected a collective approach to hardship, with boards considering shared costs over reductions to local services.

“Rather than suffer more cuts in services and cuts to library hours and possibly closing our pools and selling off our playgrounds, they preferred to do a targeted rate, which meant every family, every household in Manukau would have had to pay an extra $24 to $40 a year to fill that funding gap.”

Māngere-Ōtāhuhu Local Board chair Kaea Walter Inoke-Togiamua said his board’s funding gap had fallen from just over $1 million to around $600,000, but argued the underlying problem remained.

The Fairer Funding model is aimed at correcting long-standing inequities between Auckland's 21 local boards.

Māngere-Ōtāhuhu Local Board chair Kaea Walter Inoke-Togiamua says local board funding pressures remain a concern despite temporary relief. Photo/Auckland Council

However, Inoke-Togiamua said it needed to be reviewed.

“Our community, one of Auckland’s most deprived, cannot keep facing service cuts or extra local rates.

"We advocate shifting funding to genuine need, prioritising areas with deep, long-standing poverty and social hardship. Fairness means directing resources where hardship is deepest, not where amenity gaps are merely inconvenient.”

Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board chair Apulu Reece Autagavaia said his board had reduced funding pressures from around $1.6 million to about $500,000, but warned options were narrowing.

“It was wringing blood out of a stone to the point where I’m not sure what options we might have next year. We might actually have to start looking at closing library hours,” Apulu said.

“Our grants programme is now cut down from about $300,000 in the previous term per year to only $80,000.”

Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board chair Apulu Reece Autagavaia says temporary funding relief has removed the need for targeted rates this year, but long-term funding pressures remain. Photo/Auckland Council

Apulu said community groups and events relying on local board grants could be affected in future.

He said the board held an emergency meeting on Monday to withdraw its targeted rate proposal after receiving advice that the funding gap would be covered.

Auckland Council said staff are reviewing the fairer funding policy to identify improvements aimed at making future funding “fair, equitable and affordable”.

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.