Ngā Kōrero ā-Pūtea I Finance
We must manage our revenues, expenses, assets, liabilities, investments, and general financial dealings prudently and in a manner that promotes the current and future interests of the community.
Our budget
The Te Pae Tawhiti | Long-Term Plan (LTP) outlines our planned activities for the next 10 years, how much they will cost and how they will be funded. Council refreshes the LTP every three years. In the years between LTPs, all councils must produce an Annual Plan, with their budget for the next financial year.
- The Te Pae Tawhiti | Long-Term Plan includes our Financial Strategies, Financial Information and our Funding and Finance Policies.
- The Mahere ā-Tau | Annual Plan 2025/26 sets out the budget for 2025/26.
Funding of our core services
Our income
Some of our work is fully or partially funded by those who directly benefit from that expenditure through user pays (such as resource consent applications and bus fares for those using the Metro bus service). If a project has national benefits, we may receive funding through central government grants.
Expenditure not funded by grants and user pays income is funded through general rates, targeted rates or use of reserves.
The Mahere ā-Tau | Annual Plan 2025/26 details budgeted income and expenditure for each of the three core services. The cost of the services that support delivery, eg corporate costs, is allocated across the three core services.
Expenditure budget 2025/26
Learn more about how funding is allocated for different areas of work within our core services.
Financial performance - Environmental Regulation and Protection
| Revenue | Expenditure | Surplus/(deficit) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Actual | $55.78M | $56.12M | ($0.34M) |
| Budget | $58.46M | $61.71M | ($3.25M) |
| Variance | ($2.68M) | ($5.59M) | $2.91M |
| % Variance | -4.59% | -9.06% |
Environmental Regulation and Protection expenditure was $5.6 million less than budgeted and the revenue was $2.7 million less than budgeted at the end of quarter two in the 2025/26 financial year.
At the end of quarter two, Environmental Regulation and Protection service expenditure was $5.6 million less than budgeted and the revenue was $2.7 million less than budgeted.
The key items contributing to the variance from the budget included in Annual Plan 2025/26 were:
- Regulatory framework service $2.7 million underspent due to neither the debt nor the funds to service the debt being required when legislation paused RMA planning work
- Authorisations (RMA consenting) showed reduced revenue from user pays services of $1.1 million. This was as result of lower-than-anticipated revenue associated with resource consent applications in the month of December following central government policy announcements and new legislation. There were also increased costs for external technical support, largely attributed to legacy consents, and the hearings, overseer audits, and court proceedings.
- Compliance was $1.0 million underspent against budget (approximately 9%). Revenue was $1.1 million below expectation, due to lower than budgeted cost recovery. Cost recovery has shown an increase over the last year.
- Indigenous biodiversity and mahinga kai and Local action support services were $0.9 million and $0.8 million underspent respectively due to grant funding not yet being allocated for the year.
- The Incident response budget was underspent by $0.5 million, largely due to staff reallocation between Incident response and Compliance services. This has not affected service delivery.
Financial performance - Community Preparedness and Response to Hazards
| Revenue | Expenditure | Surplus/(Deficit) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Actual | $31.57M | $21.71M | $9.86M |
| Budget | $31.12M | $24.51M | $6.61M |
| Variance | $0.45M | ($2.80M) | $3.25M |
| % Variance | 1.43% | -11.42% |
Community Preparedness and Response to Hazards service expenditure was $2.8 million less than budgeted and the revenue was $0.4 million more than budgeted at the end of the second quarter in the 2025/26
financial year.
At the end of quarter two the Community Preparedness and Response to Hazards service expenditure was $2.8 million less than budgeted and the revenue was $0.4 million more than budgeted.
The key items contributing to the variance from the budget included in Annual Plan 2025/26 were:
- Flood and river resilience received $0.4 million additional revenue due to unplanned harvesting from the forest estate following significant wind events. The service was underspent by $1.9 million due to delays caused by weather and river events. This work is expected to be completed by year-end.
Flood warning and advisory service was $0.4 million underspent as a result of vacancies, which have now been filled. This has not affected service delivery
Financial performance - Public Transport
| Revenue | Expenditure | Surplus/(Deficit) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Actual | $76.20M | $74.28M | $1.93M |
| Budget | $75.96M | $78.33M | ($2.37M) |
| Variance | $0.24M | ($4.05M) | $4.29M |
| % Variance | 0.32% | -5.17% |
Public Transport service expenditure was $4.1 million less than budgeted and the revenue was $0.2 million more than budgeted at the end of the second quarter in the 2025/26 financial year.
At the end of quarter two, expenditure for the Public Transport service was $4.1 million less than budgeted, and the revenue was $0.2 million higher.
The key items contributing to the variance from the budget included in Annual Plan 2025/26 were:
- Bus and Ferry Services expenditure was $4.7 million less than budgeted. This was due to the inflation index being lower than planned and delays to some projects, including the PT Futures network service review. The review was due to commence in late 2025 and will now begin in 2026.
Total Mobility service expenditure was $0.7 million over budget due to higher demand, with around $0.48 million being covered by NZTA, resulting in an increase in budgeted revenue.