Auckland Council’s Finance and Performance Committee has agreed to sell the final $130 million contained in its diversified financial asset portfolio, with proceeds used solely to fund public transport and stormwater infrastructure.
Set up in the 1990s, the fund used the assets of the legacy Auckland Regional Council to establish Infrastructure Auckland, providing seed funds to address the public transport and stormwater infrastructure deficit in Auckland at the time, and enabled projects like the Britomart Transport Centre and the Northern Busway to proceed.
The council divested $100 million of the portfolio in May 2016, with a further $100 million to be divested by the end of the 2017/2018 financial year.
Once this process is complete, the remaining balance of the portfolio will be $130 million, which the committee today agreed to divest by 30 June 2018.
The proceeds will be used solely to fund public transport and stormwater infrastructure.
Committee chair Ross Clow says that the decision to divest of the portfolio is a sensible one and will be used to help tackle Auckland’s growth.
“This is a prudent financial decision given the need to invest in our infrastructure needs across the city,” he says.
“The fund was originally set up with the express purpose of funding infrastructure across the region when needed.”
“Given the unprecedented challenges Auckland faces, divesting of the remainder of the portfolio and using it to help fund our infrastructure programme is a prudent and sensible financial decision.”
