Fight for public services: City Association calls for immediate solutions!

Fight for public services: City Association calls for immediate solutions!

Laimgrubengasse 10, 1060 Wien, Österreich - The Austrian city of the city raises the alarm! At a press conference led by President Michael Ludwig, warning is that cities and municipalities could threaten massive cuts in public services such as kindergartens, care and cultural institutions due to the factual financial crisis. The blame for this lies in the combination of a lack of counter -financing through past tax reforms and the current economic situation. This puts the quality of life of the citizens to the test, since 45 percent of the municipalities can no longer have a balanced budget in the coming years, as the current municipal finance forecast of the KDZ shows, as ots.at reports .

Thomas Weninger, Secretary General of the City Association, emphasizes the urgent need for structural reforms to ensure the financial resources of the cities. In particular, adjustments to the levies and transfers are required to ensure the necessary financial basis for essential public services to the municipalities. In his introduction to the publication "Community of the Future", he emphasizes the precarious situation of many municipalities. Different cities already report critical household bottlenecks, with Bruck on the Mur even imposing a budget lock, while Klagenfurt introduces expenditure stops. Mayors in Salzburg complain that they can no longer maintain the fundamental public offers, such as [staedttebund.gv.at] (https://www.staedtebund.gv.at/saktuelles/aktuelles-details/staedte-und---staerken----- und-- und-- und--t-staedte/)) determined.

In order to find a way out of the crisis, the urban association calls on the next federal government to take the concerns of the municipalities seriously and to think about solutions in a local summit. Citizens must be able to trust that basic public services will remain, which applies in particular to the areas of education, transport and social services. The cities are firmly at the side of the cities and municipalities to master this challenge and to secure the quality of life for all citizens.