Published in
Central Leader, print edition, Friday 29th October 2010
Last-minute spending dries future community funding pool
A last-minute spend-up by community boards before the supercity election has left newly-elected local board members with no discretionary funding until at least mid-2011.
Community boards were told they had to spend a year's worth of funding, valued at $51,000, in just three months before the election or risk losing the money altogether.
But that decision has left local boards with no discretionary funding to support community group events or other needs until next July at the earliest, when the Auckland Council draws up its new budget.
Even then, there's no guarantee the council will allocate discretionary budgets to local boards.
Puketapapa Local Board member Michael Wood says it's disappointing that money won't be immediately available for the benefit of the community. "It seems to fly in the face of assurances that local boards would represent local communities," the Roskill Community Voice member says.
"It goes to the heart of criticism of the supercity structure to begin with..."
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