Christchurch City Council's chief executive Dawn Baxendale will take a 10 per cent pay cut for the 2020-21 financial year.

Christchurch City Council chief executive Dawn Baxendale has taken a pay cut of almost $50,000 for the next year.

The move comes as the council looks at ways to save costs for ratepayers hurting from the pressure the coronavirus pandemic has placed on the economy.

Baxendale, who has an annual salary of $495,000, has accepted a 10 per cent pay cut for the 2020-21 financial year.

CHRIS SKELTON/STUFF Christchurch mayor Lianne Dalziel and several other city councillors have said they would take a pay cut if the law is changed to allow them to do so.

She said council finances had been severely impacted by the Covid-19 lockdown, as had those of the organisations it controlled.

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"Many of our ratepayers are also suffering financial hardship. This is the right thing for me to do on a personal level."

Baxendale said the council was considering how the lockdown would affect its annual plan and savings were being looked at "from every part of the organisation".

"We have a very complex financial conundrum and we need to find savings right across the organisation."

Baxendale was previously non-commital on a pay cut.

Christchurch mayor Lianne Dalziel has also said she wants to take a pay cut, but is currently unable to do so legally – though a law change is expected in the near future.

Other city councillors, including deputy mayor Andrew Turner, have said they would be willing to cut their pay.