Financial bottleneck

Have the municipalities run out of money for the children?

225 million euros will be invested by the municipalities in childcare and compulsory schools between 2024 and 2028.

(Bild: Christian Jauschowetz)

More than 100 Upper Austrian municipalities need a cash injection from the state this year to balance their budgets. Mayors are already building up reserves and investments are falling by the wayside. But it is wrong that the municipalities are starving, says the state councillor responsible.

"New bad news for our municipalities" was the headline in last Wednesday's print edition of the newspaper "OÖ-Krone". The Ministry of Finance's downgraded forecast for the development of revenue shares up to 2027 is giving mayors pause for thought: in financially weak municipalities in particular, spending is already "rather restrained", says Rudi Hemetsberger, head of the green local authority of Attersee.

Half a billion euros in investments
So will local authorities soon no longer be able to afford childcare, fire departments and the like? Not at all, disagrees local government councillor Michaela Langer-Weninger (ÖVP): "In the years 2024 to 2028, Upper Austria's municipalities will trigger an investment volume of half a billion euros." Almost half - 225 million euros - will go towards childcare and compulsory schools. Investments will also be made in fire departments (15%), sport and culture (11%), roads (9%) and retirement and nursing homes (4%). According to Langer-Weninger, the state's funding share averages one third.

Aid package and additional funding
With the municipal aid package amounting to 50 million euros and the 15% additional funding for crèches, day nurseries and kindergartens, the state is standing by the municipalities. The politician now sees a need for action on the part of the federal government: "The announced municipal billion must finally come!"

Kommentar

Reform statt Hilfspakete

The opposition warns of a "financial collapse" of the municipalities, while government officials emphasize the state's charity work to prevent the municipalities from starving to death. Depending on the political perspective, the situation is more or less dramatic.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV, Alexander Schwarzl, Markus Wenzel)

The fact is that the municipalities are burdened with expenses by the federal and state governments, which are then graciously, but never sufficiently, repaid as part of the financial equalization. In order for municipalities to be able to do what they are supposed to do, what is needed is not aid packages and special subsidies, but a genuine reform of the financing system.