Auckland Council can confirm that it has now written to the Avondale Business Association regarding concerns over its financial and governance practices.
It follows on from a request from the council in December 2018, requesting several steps be taken to satisfy the council that the ABA was operating in line with its Business Improvement District (BID) policy.
The council has now advised the ABA that as a number of issues raised by the council have not been dealt with in a satisfactory manner, it will be withholding funding until a number of conditions have been met.
The conditions for reinstatement of funding are:
- That the financial concerns have been addressed and a satisfactory audit completed
- That the ABA can demonstrate it is operating in accordance with its constitution and the council’s BID policy
- That the ABA has a clear plan of how it will deliver value to its membership and the capability to deliver on behalf of its membership.
An audit has been commenced to ensure confidence in the ABAs financial governance.
The council can also confirm that it recognises Marcus Amosa is the elected chair of the ABA. It also believes that setting a minimum financial contribution for membership of Business Associations is against the BID policy.
BID agreements are an important mechanism for the council to collaborate with Auckland's business sector to improve our local business environment and boost the regional economy. The council is confident that this is an isolated issue and the rest of the BID programmes across Auckland are operating in line with the BID policy.
As part of the investigation is still underway, the council will be making no further comment at this time and will provide updates as appropriate.
