Dispute over money

ÖVP now calls for an end to the provincial levy

Ulram and Steiner are calling for an end to the provincial levy.

(Bild: ÖVP Bgld.)

The financial situation of many municipalities is becoming increasingly dire. The ÖVP blames the state, the SPÖ the federal government. 

Municipalities have been complaining for some time that their financial leeway is getting smaller and smaller. The ÖVP blames the federal state. They say that the state is retaining more and more of the revenue shares for the municipalities and that the municipalities are receiving less and less.

360,000 euros less
Most recently, Hornstein's ÖVP mayor Christoph Wolf criticized the fact that his municipality is receiving an average of 33,000 euros less per month this year than in 2021. According to this calculation, Hornstein could have around 360,000 euros more per year at its disposal.

Legal steps conceivable
According to Mayor Thomas Steiner (ÖVP), the provincial capital also feels the same way. Together with ÖVP party leader Markus Ulram, he is now calling for the state levy to be abolished - and can also imagine taking legal action. According to the Financial Constitution Act, municipalities must have a financial framework, says Steiner.

Recovery fund is not enough
It was only on Tuesday that the state announced a rescue fund for financially troubled municipalities. Ulram has little sympathy for this because, after all, the state is partly responsible for the high deductions and is now playing "Robin Hood".

SPÖ refers to the federal government
SPÖ party chairman Roland Fürst, on the other hand, points out that a special support package for municipalities was only presented in the summer, and now the recovery fund has also been introduced. Burgenland's municipalities are still in the best financial position despite the tense situation because they also have to make the lowest transfer payments to the state. The difficult financial situation of the municipalities was due to the disastrous policies of the turquoise-green federal government.

Broken deal
And ultimately it was the ÖVP that rejected a 38 million euro relief package (the waste association deal, note) for the municipalities at the beginning of the year, according to Fürst.