A long-running debate over funding for Auckland's Independent Maori Statutory Board has been resolved.
The Auckland Council has agreed to provide the board with a budget of $3.2 million for the next year.
The board was set up by the Government as part of Auckland's local body reforms, but a previously agreed funding agreement fell apart in February.
Councillors in February agreed, then overturned, a deal to provide the board with $3.4 million in cash.
The new deal provides $1.9 million in cash, and council resources and staffing valued at $1.3 million.
The board's first projects will be an audit of council's compliance with the Treaty of Waitangi and work on the Social and Economic status of Maori in Auckland.
The Auckland mayor Len Brown says it is a good outcome from four months of negotiation.
"There were strong majorities in support of moving forward, concluding the budget and letting the statutory board members and our council, the governing body, to just get on with the business of building a great city," he said.
