St. Peter/Kammersberg

Tense financial situation: Who has a line to Graz?

Herbert Göglburger has been mayor since 2019 and made significant gains in the last election.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Jürgen Fuchs)

St. Peter am Kammersberg in the district of Murau is one of those municipalities where the strained financial situation has been known for a long time. The next few years will continue to be challenging and help from the state is needed. ÖVP, SPÖ, FPÖ - who has the better connection to Graz?

This press release was remarkable: a financial consulting firm from Vienna announced in the fall that it had sued the municipality of St. Peter am Kammersberg. They had advised the municipality years ago, but had not implemented their recommendations and had not paid a fee. The municipality rejects the allegations. The verdict is not yet available.

It is remarkable that the lawsuit is not being exploited in local politics. The ÖVP has Herbert Göglburger as mayor and the SPÖ has Günter Novak-Kaiser as municipal treasurer - he is also a lawyer and represents the municipality in court.

Lawyer Günter Novak-Kaiser represents the municipality in court and is the SPÖ's top candidate.

(Bild: SPÖ/Spekner)

"We need to create room for maneuver again"
However, the lawsuit also highlights the fact that the financial situation in St. Peter am Kammersberg has been tense for years. The situation came to a head in 2023, not least due to the rapidly rising interest rates on loans at the time, but the situation was eased with the support of the state. "Things are looking positive for the future," says Göglburger to the Krone.

Novak-Kaiser is more critical. "It has not been possible to develop projects in the past five years. We need to create room for maneuver again." And FPÖ top candidate Alexander Putzenbacher - the 39-year-old farmer has also recently become a member of the state parliament - also believes: "Consolidating the budget will be the number one issue. But it will take longer than five years."

Max Lercher comes from St. Peter
It is also clear that help from the state will be necessary. Well, everyone has a good connection to Graz. The FPÖ and ÖVP are in government, and SPÖ Styria leader Max Lercher is from St. Peter. Although he has no money to distribute in the opposition, Novak-Kaiser says: "He is our man in Graz. He is excellent for the general mood."

In any case, the starting position is exciting: in 2015, the SPÖ was only one (!) vote ahead of the ÖVP; in 2020, the People's Party pulled away to 61%. "But the residents of St. Peter are very flexible. There have already been absolute majorities for the SPÖ and ÖVP. Nothing is set in stone," says Novak-Kaiser, who believes: "People want change."

Full-time mayor criticized
The lawyer is critical of the fact that Göglburger is a full-time mayor. "In my opinion, that is not necessary. There are good employees in the office, most mayors hold the office part-time." This is how he would handle it and, according to his own statement, save the municipality more than 100,000 euros a year.

Despite such criticism, Göglburger speaks of good cooperation in the municipal council. After "intensive years", there are further projects that he would like to implement: the kindergarten needs to be rebuilt or modernized (the decision is still pending), some road sections need to be renovated and the torrent control on the Feistritzbach is also a major issue.