Three reports expected to highlight the potential for council asset sales are expected to be received by councillors during the next few months.
The first report expected is a review by Dunedin City Holdings Ltd of the council-controlled organisations and assets under the DCHL umbrella.
The report is scheduled to be completed within two months, and Cr Syd Brown - chairman of the finance, strategy and development committee - expects it to identify underperforming CCOs or other assets able to be sold.
Two reports will follow later in the year: one scrutinising the council's property stockpile for surplus land able to be sold; the other looking at the Waipori fund.
One underperforming council-owned asset, CitiBus, was sold last year, and the Larsen report recommending changes within DCHL suggested more should follow.
The report suggested City Forests could be one candidate for possible sale if the council's requirement was for shorter-term cash returns, given forestry companies were "not noted for availability of strong cash flows".
Dunedin Mayor Dave Cull raised the prospect of asset sales in January as a way of lowering overall council debt levels.
Yesterday, he said the council - like any entity with assets and debt - should at times review its asset mix "to decide whether they're still doing the best job they could for you".
Any decision should be based on whether assets were strategic or not, and whether financial investments were providing a return greater than debt servicing costs, he said.
It was possible candidates for sale would be identified, and it was true City Forests was "not doing as well as we would like", but Mr Cull did not want to pre-empt DCHL's findings.
Deputy mayor Chris Staynes said it was "a possibility" councillors would receive a list of assets recommended for sale.
Cr Staynes was against using asset sales to pay down core council debt, instead believing any council proceeds should be reinvested in better-performing investments.
Cr Richard Thomson agreed financial investments should not be sold if their returns outweighed debt costs, unless they fluctuated "wildly".
There were questions about the city's investment in forestry that needed to be answered, as it traditionally soaked up "a lot" of capital and offered only long-term returns, he said.
"I would be in favour of evaluating its long-term value to the council."
Cr Jinty MacTavish said she would consider any proposed asset sales, but stressed her "default position" was asset sales were "generally a silly idea".
