Municipalities on the verge of insolvency: Red alert in the Freistadt district!

Municipalities on the verge of insolvency: Red alert in the Freistadt district!

Recently, numerous communities in Upper Austria have been faced with enormous financial challenges. Christian Denkmaier, the mayor of Neumarkt im Mühlkreis (SPÖ), warned that compulsory expenses such as payments to the social welfare association and rising child care costs are putting a severe strain on municipal budgets. The proportion of households that can no longer be balanced is now a worrying 75 percent in the Freistadt district. To respond to this trend, eight community leaders have drafted a resolution to the state government to initiate urgently needed changes. According to Mayor Günter Lorenz of Rainbach im Mühlkreis (ÖVP), the resources of employees are already under heavy strain, which often leads to absences due to illness, such as ORF reported.

Urgent need for action

Municipal representative Michaela Langer-Weninger (ÖVP) emphasized that the budget framework for voluntary spending has already been adjusted, but she also sees the federal government as having a duty to develop solutions. If the financial conditions are not improved promptly, those responsible fear a far-reaching negative development that could affect not only the clubs, but also the volunteers and ultimately the entire community life. The resolution therefore represents an appeal to the state government to take the acute financial distress of the municipalities seriously and to act as quickly as possible to avoid impending bottlenecks, which is also noted in the relevant state government document, such as VAB represents.