City Budget in Vienna: Deficit Could Rise to 3.8 Billion Euros by 2025
Finance City Councillor Peter Hanke (SPÖ) announced this on Friday after a meeting of the Finance Committee. He blames the federal budget policy for this. The Viennese ÖVP, on the other hand, does not accept this and is astonished by the "alarming figures".
From today's perspective, an increase in the deficit to 3.8 billion euros cannot be ruled out, the department head announced. However, he added that it was generally too early to confirm an actual value. "In contrast to the federal government, which concealed the actual budget situation for far too long, but ultimately had to admit to a billion-dollar hole, the city of Vienna is very transparent in its budget," he emphasized.
Criticism of Federal Tax Reform
That the financial situation of the states and municipalities is difficult is "well known", he found. The "irresponsible financial policy of the ÖVP", which implemented various tax reliefs without worrying about suitable counter-financing, is primarily to blame. "As a result of the eco-social tax reform and in particular the abolition of bracket creep, the states now have 880 million euros less to budget."
The states have to cope with an "immense additional burden", Hanke complained. All other federal states would also criticize the situation. For Vienna, however, there is no question that such important areas as health care, nursing care and the social network must be financed despite economically difficult times.
"Vienna has a stable budget situation. With assets of around 36 billion euros and reserves of 1.5 billion euros, Vienna has a good financial cushion," assured the city councillor, who announced that he had already proposed an evaluation of the financial equalization in order to at least partially discuss the distribution key anew.
Viennese ÖVP Criticizes "Constant Excuses"
The Vienna ÖVP left no doubt in a statement that they hold Hanke personally responsible for the situation. "The Vienna budget is apparently crashing on all fronts. Given this precarious situation, urgent countermeasures are needed," club chairman Markus Wölbitsch and finance spokesman Manfred Juraczka were convinced. "The constant excuses in connection with the absence of revenue shares, especially in view of the abolition of cold progression, are definitely too little. Rather, this is a structural problem in Vienna."
It is clear that now, above all, intelligent savings must be made without choking off economic growth, the ÖVP demanded. This includes, in particular, a comprehensive reform of Vienna's minimum security, the costs of which are already skyrocketing, a review of Vienna's numerous subsidies, and a Vienna administrative reform that guarantees an efficient and lean city.
FPÖ Detects Lack of Concept
"The figures presented today in the finance committee of the Vienna City Council on the Vienna budget are a shocking proof of the complete lack of concept and irresponsibility of the red-pink city government," the finance spokeswoman of the Vienna FPÖ, Ulrike Nittmann, also sharply criticized the forecast. Hanke and the SPÖ are not willing to get the escalating debt policy under control.
The FPÖ politician also recommended saving on minimum security. Because this attracts people from all over the world. A "clear turnaround" is needed here, Nittmann found.
For the Vienna Greens, these figures set off alarm bells. "Negotiations must be taken up with the federal government as a matter of urgency to ensure that there are no dramatic cuts in the health and education sectors," said Martin Margulies, budget spokesman for the Vienna Greens, in a written statement.
(APA/Red)
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.