Most libraries will have reduced opening hours, while some others will be extended, in a bid to save $1.1 million in Auckland Council's proposed budget.

Motorway tolls are gaining far more support from Aucklanders than lifting rates and fuel taxes to fill a $12 billion transport funding gap over 30 years.

St Patrick's Square, a pride and joy of central Auckland's streetscape upgrade programme, is looking unloved only five years after a $9.2 million makeover.

Sunset-chasers and their cars have been locked in Auckland's Mt Eden Domain again - despite a council apology last month to people stranded there by an earlier closing time.

Auckland boaties are rallying against council plans to weaken controls over further reclamation of the Waitemata Harbour for port use.

'Economists make forecasts," said the late, great, economist John Kenneth Galbraith, "not because they know, but because they are asked."

Tony Holman writes: The secretive assets sales project highlights the anti-people, anti-democratic nature of the local government structure foisted upon the people of Auckland.

A legal battle with former chief executive Alex Swney has led Heart of the City to pull funding from cash-strapped projects.

Rentals for the top 10 most popular "Bach Escapes" in Auckland regional parks are going up by 15 per cent, though summer holiday peak rates of $168 to $222 a night are still modest compared with those expected by private owners.

Auckland Council has voted to delay a decision on a central wharf strategy that involves further reclamation of the Waitemata Harbour.

Capacity constraints at the Port of Auckland feature high on the list of those eager to justify its expansion through further reclamation of the Waitemata Harbour.

New Zealand territorial authorities have assets of $117.4 billion yet extremely low debt levels of only $10.8 billion, says a financial chief.

Auckland councillors will make a huge call behind closed doors on Thursday on whether to stand firm against further reclamation of the Waitemata Harbour for port use.

Parks and beaches are great places for dogs to romp around, but they are not a free-for-all, says Cathy Casey.

A landmark 1905 villa sitting on a $3.5 million piece of land in Herne Bay, the country's most expensive suburb, is for sale for removal.

Councils have been pleading for a new source of money for as long as ratepayers can remember.

Auckland Council's desperate hunt for new revenue to supplement an ever-growing rates burden may be boosted by a Local Government NZ funding review.

Prime Minister John Key has sprayed cold water on calls for a comprehensive rethink of how local government spending is funded.

Auckland Mayor Len Brown opposes a plan to stop councillors serving as board members on Auckland Transport.

Country should ponder new funding solutions such as paying coal and gas royalties to cash-strapped councils, local government bosses say.

EXCLUSIVE: Auckland bureaucrats have come up with a plan to dump councillors from sitting on the board of Auckland Transport.

Len Brown and his wife Shan Inglis have sold their big South Auckland home and are now getting first-hand knowledge of the city's pressure-cooker house market.

In part four of the Herald series on how to make Auckland better, we look at the pros and cons of health-care in New Zealand's biggest city.

In the third of our five-part Future Auckland series, we aim to stimulate debate.

The Herald understands Len Brown has the backing of his wife and has told his inner circle he wants to run again for the mayoralty, but may not have enough support.