Expenditure in the Office of the Mayor at Auckland Council has been reduced by nearly 40 per cent in this council term, saving ratepayers $3.82 million over three years.

By law, the Office of the Mayor is allocated 0.2 per cent of the council’s total operational budget, to support the mayor in leading its plans, policies and budgets.

In this mayoral term, the office spent less than half of its allocated budget, with savings made by reducing spending compared to the previous mayoral term on:

• staff costs ($2.2 million reduction in spend)
• consultants and legal expenses ($1.1 million reduction in spend)
• travel ($245,391 reduction in spend—the current mayoral office spent $37,772 over the term—an 85 per cent reduction)
• entertainment and catering ($100,599 reduction in spend—the current mayoral office spent $17,604 over the term, compared to $118,203 spent under the previous term)

Other savings were made by reducing expenditure on telecommunications ($12,374 reduction), office consumables ($6,090 reduction in spend), information systems ($5,532 reduction), and activities ($18,038 reduction).

Costs were also reduced by replacing the former mayoral car—a chauffeur-driven diesel-powered Holden Commodore—with a self-driven electric Hyundai.

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