For 2025/2026

Despite 293 objections: New Graz budget fixed

Manfred Eber (KPÖ) presented the draft budget as City Councillor for Finance.

(Bild: Juergen Radspieler)

The Graz City Council met on Thursday to discuss the double budget for the next two years. City Councillor for Finance Manfred Eber (KPÖ) had to put up with criticism, but was ultimately able to push through the decision.

It was a bumpy start to the municipal council meeting on Thursday in Graz: before the budget debate even began, 293 objections were submitted by the opposition - all of which, according to the statutes, had to be discussed. However, criticism had already been voiced weeks ago. In November, the city hall coalition of the KPÖ, Greens and SPÖ presented the double budget for 2025/2026 - 800 million euros in debt would be incurred over the next five years.

"Like an ice cube on the main square in summer"
To prevent the mountain from growing any further, the sports department in particular, but also the cultural sector, would have to make savings. To the annoyance of the opposition: local councillor Claudia Unger (ÖVP) also criticized in the discussion on Thursday that the budget would be cut "in the wrong place". She admitted that the previous governments had also run up debts, "but not in this turbo mode". Councillor Philipp Pointner (Neos) said that the budget had a "shelf life like an ice cube on the main square in summer".

Decision made in the evening hours
Manfred Eber (KPÖ), the city councillor responsible for finance, defended the timetable: "We could have played budget tricks, but we refrained from doing so. We wanted to show an unvarnished picture." However, if the recommendations demanded by the City Court of Audit in its report on Wednesday were to be followed, this would be "the kind of standstill that nobody wants or would like to see".

In the end, a joint decision was reached in the evening. Although the budget is not balanced, it is fully financed. This is because while income is falling, costs are rising - especially for the prescribed social benefits. Nevertheless, it was possible to slow down the development of debt by six percent. Investments will be needed in public transport (e.g. Steyrergasse depot) and the independent energy supply (e.g. sewage sludge recycling), explained Eber.