St. Veit fights with tense finances: Council demands austerity measures!

St. Veit fights with tense finances: Council demands austerity measures!

St. Veit, Österreich - The St. Veiter municipal council recently passed the invoice for the previous year, a step that is of great relevance under the current difficult financial conditions. According to Klick Carärnten , the financial situation of the city will also be tense in 2024. High transfer payments, rising personnel costs and persistent interest loads present the city with enormous challenges.

These problems are also reinforced by high inflation that affects almost all areas of urban building. Mayor Martin Kulmer (SPÖ) emphasizes the need for a solid housekeeping and emphasizes that targeted savings are necessary to cushion the effects of cost increases.

budget data and improvements

There is a positive message in terms of the earnings budget: The negative result could be improved compared to the original estimate. In 2024 the local tax reaches around 7.3 million euros, which corresponds to an increase of around 7 percent compared to the previous year. The city's operational income is around 50 million euros, an increase of around 3 million euros.

Furthermore, the increase in earnings shares remains behind the expectations; These only increase by 1 percent to 150,000 euros. The stagnating earnings shares account for 28 percent of the total income and are to be assessed as critical. In addition to the income, expenses, in particular through transfer payments to the state of Carinthia, which have increased by around 15 percent.

investments and challenges

According to the figures submitted, an operational surplus of around 1,372,000 euros will be achieved in the 2024 invoice, which represents an improvement by around 1.37 million euros. In addition, the result of the investment building improves by 1,105,550 euros. Nevertheless, the net financing balance minus is around 2,066,750 euros, which illustrates the financial challenges of the city.

The results of the current OB Barometer of the German Institute for Urban Studies (Difu) also show that the municipal finances for 2025 represent the most pressing field of action for the mayors. 70 percent of the OBS evaluate the topic more than twice as important as other topics, which underlines the special urgency of this problem. In the survey, which was carried out between January 23 and March 12, 2025, the municipal finances were mentioned as the most important topic on the agenda for the next five years. The preservation and expansion of the municipal infrastructure, especially in the area of schools, play a central role here.

These current debates about urban finances show the need to reduce non-monetary investment obstacles and to manage the investment deficit in the education sector, which is 54.76 billion euros. The proportion of municipal investments in public investments is around 40 percent, which increases the responsibility and urgency for the cities in order to receive support from additional funds from the federal and state governments.

The situation in St. Veit thus reflects a larger trend that can be observed not only locally but also at the level of German cities, where 135 of 197 Mayor participated in the survey, which corresponds to a participation rate of 68.5 percent, as in the results of the OB-Barometer 2025 was recorded.