Budget Creation: Municipalities Are Among the Winners
As Finance Minister Markus Marterbauer (SPÖ) emphasized at a press conference on Monday morning, there will be no fresh money, but the already promised funds can be accessed much more easily and used flexibly. In total, it concerns nearly 900 million, as State Secretary Barbara Eibinger-Miedl (ÖVP) informed.
Specifically, these are the funds from the three municipal investment laws of recent years, which were partly not accessed because the municipalities could not or did not want to cover the co-financing share of 20 to 50 percent. Now, the earmarked grants are being converted into direct financial allocations, and the co-financing requirements are eliminated.
Greater Flexibility
The flexibility for the use of the funds will thus be much greater, explained Marterbauer. The only requirement is that the funds are actually invested, which will then also be monitored. The Finance Minister would welcome measures that save costs for the municipalities in the future, such as in electricity generation, or make them more attractive for newcomers, for example through an expansion of childcare.
Eibinger-Miedl also emphasized the economic significance of the measures. Because municipalities are often very important investors and thus a corresponding factor for the regional economy.
As the State Secretary emphasized, the funds would be transferred directly to the municipalities without an application. Municipal Association President Johannes Pressl clarified that in the distribution, small and medium-sized municipalities would be slightly better off. How high the respective funding will be, the municipalities will be able to see online in a few days.
Total Sum 881 Million
According to Pressl, the total amount is 881 million, which will be used responsibly. The funds would help the municipalities "to get back on their feet." For Thomas Weninger, Secretary General of the Association of Cities, it is also clear that the financial situation needs to be improved and stabilized. However, further steps will be needed, he referred to the upcoming negotiations on the Stability Pact.
Marterbauer certainly has an understanding of the municipalities' difficulties. "The financial situation is bad, the tasks are very, very large," he described their situation in light of necessary financial expenditures, for example, in childcare. Therefore, the government has also accommodated the municipalities. In addition to the grants, there are significantly higher revenue shares. By 2029, 1.2 billion more in revenue will fall to the states, and 1.1 billion to the municipalities.
Of course, both the Finance Minister and the President of the Association of Municipalities assured that additional measures should be taken within the structures. Municipal cooperation would be a very essential step, said Pressl - and there will also need to be efficiency criteria in the individual municipalities. However, the President rejected forced mergers.
The Greens expressed dissatisfaction with the measures presented today. The conversion of targeted climate subsidies for municipalities into a watering can subsidy is a sad step backward, said municipal spokesperson Elisabeth Götze.
(APA/Red)
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.