2.3 How Auckland Council is funded
The council’s financial strategy sets out our overall approach to managing our finances. It seeks to improve Auckland’s physical and financial resilience and sets out the key financial settings to improve our sustainability, including limits on rates and borrowings.
The financial strategy can be found in the Long-term Plan 2024-2034 Volume 2.
Our funding sources
Auckland Council has a range of funding sources to pay for both day-to-day services and infrastructure projects. Rates are the most well-known source, but they make up less than half of the council’s income.
Other funding sources include:
- fees and charges
- grants and subsidies, including from central government
- targeted rates for specific projects or services
- interest, dividends and rental income from investments
- borrowings to fund our capital investment programme
- development contributions to recover the cost of growth projects from developers
To learn more about how we fund different council activities, visit our Revenue and financial policy.
The balanced budget requirement
Each year, we must make sure that our operating income is enough to cover our expected operating expenses. This is known as the balanced budget requirement.
In some cases, we may set income at a different level to expenses if we determine that it is still financially prudent to do so.
The annual plan
Each year by 30 June, we adopt an annual plan that:
- sets out our budget for the coming financial year (starting 1 July)
- shows our expected revenue and expenses.
We then confirm the rates for that year.
To see the current plan, visit One-year and 10-year budgets.