Crisis in municipalities

Money for music, fire department, mountain rescue cut

The mountain rescue service relies on money from the municipalities to pay for exercises and equipment. Now there are cuts for the first time.

(Bild: Hannes Wallner)

Upper Austria's municipalities are in the middle of drawing up their budgets for this year: money is now so tight that, for the first time, funding for mountain rescue services, fire departments and music bands has been cut to zero. 

Upper Austria - the land of volunteers! That's how our state likes to present itself. But now comes bad news for many of the volunteers in the state. The financial crisis, which is also increasingly affecting the municipalities, is also affecting their work.