Budget freeze remains

Finances frozen: When can Bruck breathe a sigh of relief?

Bruck an der Mur imposed a budget freeze on itself in June - now a review of the municipality's financial situation is imminent. What steps has Mayor Andrea Winkelmeier (SPÖ) taken so far? And when does she plan to lift the freeze?

In June of this year, Bruck made headlines: With immediate effect, Mayor Andrea Winkelmeier (SPÖ) imposed a budget freeze on the municipality, effectively freezing many expenditures. The town had already been struggling with financial difficulties for some time, but the drastic intervention came as a surprise. Whilst the opposition identified "years of red mismanagement", Winkelmeier called the decision "courageous".

Even now, a good two months later, she still describes the budget freeze as "right and important" - "I would only do the communication differently, but even a mayor can learn". And when asked by the "Krone", she confirms that the budget freeze remains in place "for safety reasons".

"Acute situation has stabilized"
For the time being, she wants to wait for the results of the audit by the municipal supervisory authority, which is currently underway. Governor Christopher Drexler (ÖVP) and Deputy Governor Anton Lang (SPÖ) had requested this detailed examination of the cash flows. The revenue shares from the federal government, which are decreasing in Bruck as well as in Graz, will also be included in the decision.

I have received praise from other municipalities for my courageous decision, and the population has also responded well to the budget freeze.

Andrea Winkelmeier (SPÖ), Bürgermeisterin von Bruck an der Mur

Are they optimistic that the municipality will soon recover? "The acute situation has calmed down and stabilized. We have made savings, and that was good," says Winkelmeier. For example, 25 percent of administrative expenditure was cut and subsidies for associations were also stopped and are now only slowly starting up again.

"June was a very difficult time for me," admits the mayor. But: "The population is responding well to the budget freeze." Winkelmeier is not yet able to give a fixed time frame for the lifting of the lockdown, but the financial audit is likely to take a few weeks. So for the time being, the motto remains: don't rush things.