Te whakarāpopoto o Te Mahere ā-Tau 2025/2026 (te tahua pūtea ā-tau) Summary of the Annual Plan 2025/2026 (annual budget)

This annual plan sets out what we plan to achieve during the 2025/2026 financial year, the services we will provide, how much money we will spend and where that money will come from.

Our Plan

The focus of this annual plan is to:

• deliver the second year of the Long-term Plan 2024–2034 (LTP)
• strengthen Auckland's financial resilience
• strengthen Auckland’s resilience to storms and flooding to protect our natural environment.

To do this, we will make the most of what we already have by investing in areas where it:

• is needed most
• will make the biggest difference.

Our plan includes prioritising investment in:

• transport
• water
• enabling local boards to better respond to the needs of their communities.

We will do this in a way that continues to recognise cost-of-living concerns for Aucklanders, while supporting our communities with the greatest needs.

How we will deliver our plan

We are creating an Auckland that is beautiful, thriving and safe for all Aucklanders.

Our annual plan supports this by:

• delivering key programmes across seven areas of investment:
  • transport
  • water
  • the built environment
  • the natural environment
  • community
  • economic and cultural development
  • well-managed local government
• investing $4.3 billion of capital funds to provide more services for Aucklanders and to build a more resilient region. This includes investing in assets like:
  • roads
  • pipes
  • transport infrastructure
• beginning to address differences in funding allocated to our 21 local boards. This will allow local boards to better respond to the needs of their communities
• setting an overall rates increase of 5.8 per cent for the average-value residential property for 2025/2026.

Rates increases

This annual plan includes an overall rates increase for the average-value residential property of around $223 a year or $4.29 a week.

This increase reflects what we set out for the second year of the LTP.

Investment areas

Our seven areas of investment reflect the services and activities the council group is responsible for.

We have specific goals for each investment area that guide our strategic priorities, including our kaitiakitanga (guardianship) role. These goals help us decide how to use our resources to meet the needs of Aucklanders.

In the 2025/2026 financial year, we plan to:

• help fix roads
• improve public transport by:
• • making it more reliable and easier to use
  • providing better bus services
  • maintaining rail tracks
• continue the $50-weekly public transport fare cap for buses, trains and inner-harbour ferries.

Water

We invest in water services for the Auckland region including:

• drinking water
• wastewater
• stormwater.

Our council-controlled organisation (CCO) for water is Watercare. It manages Auckland's drinking water and wastewater (sewage), while we manage the region's stormwater.

In the 2025/2026 financial year, we plan major works to:

• upgrade or replace water supply and wastewater services throughout the Auckland region
• complete stormwater separation works to separate stormwater pipes from wastewater pipes and prevent wastewater overflows.

Most of our stormwater investment continues to focus on:

• flood resilience and recovery work
• increasing the capacity of our stormwater network to meet the needs of our growing region.

Built environment

As Auckland grows, we need to:

• build and develop supporting infrastructure
• make sure rules and regulations are followed
• respond to direction from central government.

In the 2025/2026 financial year, we will:

• work with Kāingā Ora and the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development to continue investing in infrastructure in Māngere, Tāmaki and Mt Roskill
• continue city centre works including Te Hā Noa – Victoria Street to:
  • create a shared urban space for visitors and people living and working in the area
  • make the most of the new City Rail Link, which will make it easier for more people to visit the area
• progress a 'masterplan' to:
  • turn the central wharves into a vibrant public space

  • enable cruise and ferry services to work more efficiently with Port of Auckland Limited(POAL) operations

• continue to regenerate our neighbourhoods in key areas like Takapuna, Northcote, Maungawhau, Henderson, Avondale, Manukau and Pukekohe
• set up the Auckland Urban Development Office within Auckland Council.

Natural environment

To manage Auckland's natural environment in 2025/2026, we will:

• meet our obligations set out in the Regional Pest Management Plan (RPMP)
• continue to use the Natural Environment Targeted Rate (NETR) to deliver plans and activities to:
  • protect our native animals
  • control pests and harmful organisms (pathogens)
• deliver our kauri dieback management programme to protect our kauri forests
• provide marine biosecurity education and engagement programmes
• increase monitoring of existing and new marine pests, like exotic caulerpa seaweed
• increase the number of community recycling centres around the region
• complete the standardisation of kerbside rubbish collection services to make them more consistent across the region.

Community

In financial year 2025/2026, we will:

• apply a ‘fairer funding’ approach for local boards
• increase the Sports and Recreation Facilities Investment Fund to address a lack of sports facilities in some areas
• 'deliver differently' so we do not have to rely on ageing assets and infrastructure. This could include:
  • combining more services like libraries and council services
  • improving our processes
  • changing how we buy and organise community services
• provide more physical and digital products at Auckland libraries to meet a growing digital demand, including more e-books and e-magazines
• carry out urgent upgrades of community facilities to keep them safe and in good condition
• support high-priority growth projects like those that support our Māori and Pasifika communities
• improve animal control services by:
  • providing more resources
  • increasing capacity at our animal shelters
• improve community safety across the city by providing safety hubs and compliance wardens in the city centre.

Economic and cultural development

To deliver our plans for economic and cultural development in Auckland, we will:

• continue to deliver large cultural events like Pasifika, Diwali and the Lantern Festival
• continue to provide experiences for visitors to Auckland Zoo, Auckland Art Gallery and New Zealand Maritime Museum
• support international and domestic events including musicals, concerts and exhibitions
• develop a ‘Stadium Investment Plan’ to help guide investment decisions for our regional stadium network
• continue to maintain and renew our assets, including our heritage assets, with a focus on projects that reduce or remove carbon emissions
• work with central government and industry groups to find new ways to:
  • fund activities to attract more visitors to Auckland
  • increase economic growth.

Well-managed local government