Economic and cultural development

Key areas of spend

• Capital spend: $554 million
• Operating spend: $2,746 million
• Rates value per $100: $6

How operating costs are funded

• Other, including fees and charges: 41%
• Rates: 59%

The challenges

Growth

COVID-19 has led to considerable job loss and displacement of workers and already disadvantaged groups are disproportionately impacted.

Many businesses are struggling from the disruptive impacts of the pandemic, including border closures and the loss of revenue.

Ageing infrastructure

A key issue in the 10-year budget has been the level of investment required to maintain our regional facilities.

Previous under investment has meant that without an injection of additional funding many of these facilities could face closure due to health and safety concerns.

Our plan

Focus areas for growth

In addition to our $31.8 billion capital programme, which will stimulate the economy and create jobs, Tātaki Auckland Unlimited will continue its activities in stimulating the visitor economy with major events such as the FIFA Women's World Cup.

Work will also continue at the local level to build business confidence and opportunities and skills development.

Additional investment in renewals

An additional $182 million of renewal funding has been provided to ensure the ongoing viability of key regional facilities.

Accommodation Provider Targeted Rate

The Accommodation Provider Targeted Rate (APTR) recovers a proportion of visitor attraction and major events spending from owners of properties such as motels, hotels and Airbnb properties.

In the Emergency Budget 2020/2021, we decided, in light of the impact of Covid-19, to reduce our spending on visitor attraction and major events and suspend the APTR until 31 March 2021.

That suspension of the targeted rate and reduction in expenditure has been extended to 30 June 2022, and will be further considered in the Annual Budget 2022-2023.