With budgets under pressure, Manurewa Local Board has boosted the amount of money available for its community grants programme by $35,000.
The money has been reallocated from the board’s work programme budget for the Town Centre Steering Group.
Board chair Glenn Murphy says as projects progress the specific work required and costs change, making variations to the work programme necessary to make sure the board’s locally driven initiatives budget is fully used.
“The town centre group is tracking towards an underspend for the financial year and that means we can use those funds for something else. In this case, board members feel that should be in supporting local groups working in the community.”
Auckland Council has signaled it has a $295 million deficit and all departments, including local boards, are being asked to find savings.
“We can reallocate underspends to projects that can be completed by the end of the financial year or offer the money up as savings.
“The board has just had a grants funding round that saw groups doing good things turned down because the money was simply not there to support all the worthy organisations.
“This won’t change the fact we can not support everyone, but it will mean some groups get access to the financial support they desperately need to continue their work.”
Stay connected
Want to stay up to date with all the latest news from your area? Sign up for our Manurewa Local Board E-news and get it delivered to your inbox each month.
