Auckland Council are heading back to the drawing board to figure out how it will fund some of the city's infrastructure.

Earlier this week Finance Minister Steven Joyce announced a regional fuel tax was off the table.

Mayor Phil Goff had thought charging 10 cents a litre of fuel was the best way to plug a $400 million gap in funding for the city's infrastructure.

Chairman of the Auckland Business Forum Michael Barnett said it's now time to look at other ways to fund the roads.

"It means that we've got to be innovative, we've got to be smarter than what we've been in the past. The regional fuel tax is off as an answer."

Barnett said there's many other ways to raise the funds - like private sector partnerships.

"But we need to think differently if we're going to get the huge amount of infrastructure built that Auckland needs," he said.