Opposition rails

“The debt emperors are sitting on the government bench”

The municipal budget council starts on Thursday, the debt level is rising.

(Bild: Birbaumer Christof)

The state of Tyrol will be in the red by 2025 with 1.3 billion euros, six times more than in 2019. Things don't look much better in Innsbruck: Here, the municipal council is treating itself to a hefty cash injection on Thursday.

The state budget is lacking in ideas, juice and energy, a caretaker budget that enshrines the old "Keep it up!" policy and lacks all priorities and structural reforms - and lighthouse projects anyway.

The opposition is also so harshly critical of the government's budget policy because it has "zero involvement" in the preparation of the figures. "We get the finished book on the table and can ask questions in a three-hour meeting with the finance department. That's it," says Fritz-LA Markus Sint, describing the daily political routine of the opposition. Requests for changes in advance in the form of motions are ignored as hard as nails.

Where has all the tax money gone? The Tyroleans are definitely no better off than they were in 2019.

Fritz-LA Markus Sint

Greens would take on even more debt
"The government is denying reality when it comes to the 2025 budget. Without looking left and right at what the people in the state really need, this is politics as usual," said LA Gebi Mair, LA Petra Wohlfahrtstätter and LA Zeliha Arslan. The Greens would restructure the budget and spend a total of €131 million more. "As a state, you are allowed to take out loans if they are used to make sensible investments," explained club leader Mair. It is different if the money disappears somewhere in the system. This is exactly what LA Sint suspects: "The country has more money available this year than ever before. At the same time, the debt level has increased sixfold to 1.3 billion euros since 2019. Not everything can be blamed on corona and inflation. Where has all the tax money gone? The Tyroleans are definitely no better off than they were in 2019. The debt emperors are sitting on the government bench," explained Sint.

However, another almost 80 million euros for minimum security is not a glorious achievement for the Black-Red state government.

FP-Landesparteichef Markus Abwerzger

Mega projects with only 100 euros in the budget 
It is also interesting to note that the biggest chunks of the Fernpass package and MCI are each only included in the budget with 100 euros. "As a kind of reminder that this still exists," explained Mair. LH Mattle's office has been told that higher amounts for this in the budget would only drive up borrowing even further, which makes no sense at the current project status. An expert opinion is currently examining whether the MCI can be built by the federal real estate company BIG. The annual interest burden already amounts to around €38 million. LA Sint once again criticized the fact that €126 million had been placed in 308 meaningless budget lines such as "Other grants/miscellaneous". "This is not an operational accident, but pure intent. The members of the government are building up tax money cushions here, from which they distribute money in a princely manner during the year," criticized Sint.

Blue criticism of the level of social welfare as in Vienna
The Freedom Party also began to pick apart the state budget: "First of all, the EUR 107 million earmarked for child and youth welfare is a step in the right direction and is urgently needed in view of the immense challenges in this area," states state party chairman Markus Abwerzger. "However, another almost 80 million euros for minimum benefits is not a glorious achievement for the Black-Red provincial government, but an oath of disclosure for the failed labor market integration measures in the main group of recipients of asylum in Tyrol who are able to work."

Optimistic forecasts
As in the provincial parliament next week, the budget decision in the Innsbruck municipal council today (or tomorrow) is only a formality. All investments amounting to €58 million will be financed by loans, while at the same time the revenue and expenditure account is almost €12 million in the red.

The bottom line is that the debt level will rise from the current €171 million to up to €223 million. It is possible that the gap will widen even further, as the city government is receiving dividends from municipal companies that are optimistic in terms of their amount.