Auckland City reviews spending efficiencies

Auckland City Council begun a new peer review process for its funding system to make its spending procedures more effective and efficient.

The Public Policy and Peer Review Process will see the evaluation of all major project proposals made to the council.

Capital expenditure proposals over $500,000 and operating expenditure proposals over $80,000 will be reviewed according to a set of criteria. The criteria looks at whether the proposal is justified on public policy grounds and if sufficient analysis has been undertaken.

The review process also examines the rationale used to determine council involvement in a proposal, benchmarking a proposal’s outcomes against the guidelines of key strategic documents such as the Community Outcomes Plan and Long Term Council Community Plan.

“The Public Policy and Peer Review Process will improve already high-quality reporting by officers on spending proposals, which will in turn lead to better decision making by the council”, says Councillor Douglas Armstrong, chairperson of the Finance and Corporate Business Committee.

“It is yet another example of the council’s commitment to prudent and responsible management of our ratepayers’ money.

“The process will help ensure the council’s limited resources are used as effectively as possible.

“Improved monitoring of expenditure will also assist the council to limit rates increases. There is no excuse for budget blow outs and there is no excuse for total rate increases greater than the rate of inflation,” says Councillor Armstrong.

The council’s new peer review process took effect from 1 June 2003.

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