Not solvent

Bankruptcy wave rolls through Carinthian municipalities

Carinthia's municipalities have their backs to the wall. There is a lack of money everywhere. Even staff salaries can no longer be paid.

(Bild: zVg)

The majority of Carinthian municipalities are no longer solvent. Some have already had to cut back on services for the population. The state is therefore putting together an aid package totaling 52 million euros. But this is by no means the end of the problem. 

The Carinthian municipalities have to turn over every euro twice, if they have any left at all. "The financial situation of the municipalities is alarming!" warns Günther Vallant, head of the Association of Municipalities, on the fringes of the mayors' conference. And the figures prove Vallant right. According to the municipal department of the provincial government, up to 90 municipalities are no longer solvent. "No aid packages will help. At the end of the day, the system simply has to be changed," adds Günther Albel, Mayor of Villach and Chairman of the Austrian Association of Cities and Towns in Carinthia.

Higher fees and school closures 
While Carinthia's mayors are drawing attention to the dramatic situation, Karoline Mitterer from the Center for Public Administration Research paints a very bleak picture for the municipalities: "Whereas in 2014, 45 percent of revenue shares went into the municipalities' coffers, by 2027 it will only be 13 percent." In order to prevent the municipalities from going completely bankrupt, consideration must be given to increasing fees, closing schools and leisure facilities or taking other drastic cost-cutting measures (see article below).

It's about the citizens in the municipalities and cities. The system therefore needs to be changed quickly.

Günther Albel, Villacher Bürgermeister

Help comes from the state
In this dramatic situation, the state's aid package seems to have come at just the right time. "No Carinthian municipality will slide into insolvency. An additional 52 million euros for this year will help with this," says local government officer Daniel Fellner, who is not sparing in his criticism of the federal government's measures.

In the long term, however, the aid package is unlikely to help the municipalities ...

In zwei Gemeinden

Schülerbus muss wegen Geldmangels eingestellt werden

Anton Kummer, principal of the elementary school in St. Kanzian, knows the concerns of parents: "In the morning, many still manage to drive their children themselves. But which working person can pick up their child every day at lunchtime?" How parents from smaller towns will organize themselves is questionable.

Dozens of children without a bus
"School cabs are considered occasional transport, are a supplement to public transport and are a matter for the local authority," says the state in response to a Krone inquiry. The municipalities have to submit an application, which is paid for by the federal government. However, the federal government only pays if there is no public bus that can take the pupils. "But because we supposedly have a lot of new bus routes thanks to the new train station in Kühnsdorf, we no longer receive any money," explains Thomas Krainz, mayor of St. Kanzian. But they don't want to organize a whole bus for individual children. Now a "Krone" investigation shows that there are far more than a handful of children involved. Dozens of parents of six to ten-year-olds are desperate and worried about their children's safety on the way to school.

Municipalities are running out of money
In order to continue financing the minibuses, the municipalities would have to dig into their own pockets. "As a municipality, we can't and don't want to finance everything ourselves. But we are already in talks with those responsible," says Krainz. The parents are hoping for a quick solution. A decision must be made by the start of the vacations, otherwise the bus companies will be finished planning for the fall - and without a bus for the primary school pupils in St. Kanzian and Eberndorf.