Graz: Urgent austerity measures! City is facing debt crisis!

Graz: Urgent austerity measures! City is facing debt crisis!

The city of Graz is faced with serious financial challenges in view of a negative flow of money of around 17 million euros from the operational building. According to Kleine Zeitung , the problems continue to increase if the repayments are taken into account. The total damage, including all obligations, is around 46 million euros. An unplanned payment of the state of Styria in the amount of 15 million euros exacerbates the situation.

The Graz city administration also points out that it has payment reserves of around 62 million euros that are not yet covered. In order to cope with this financial pressure, the city has taken up more debts than necessary for the current investment of individual investments. The net result according to budget reserves amounts to around 198 million euros in the red.

measures for consolidation

The KPÖ-GRÜNEN-SPÖ coalition has announced a continuation of the consolidation course and plans to present measures to stabilize the city budget in the local council in April. An already decided budget lock of 12 million euros is fully implemented. In addition, an improvement in balance 1 of 8.4 million euros was sought, with a focus on revenue increases of around 6 million euros and savings of 2.4 million euros.

The Financial City Councilor Manfred Eber (KPÖ) emphasizes, however, that clear framework conditions on the part of the federal government and the country are required for sustainable budget planning. Financial bottlenecks, which are also due to increasing expenses and falling income, require strict housekeeping and more effective measures to reduce debt.

The debt of the city

currently the debt of Graz is two billion euros, an increase compared to previous years, so Orf Styria . The city administration has announced that they are reducing measures to reduce debt in order to counteract the tense situation. Despite a budget saving of around 9 million euros last year, 20 million euros were not used and transferred to the savings books of the city council members.

Neos community council Philipp Pointner criticizes the financial situation of the city and the KPÖ's debt policy. In this context, KFG club chairman Alexis Pascuttini calls for quick information about planning to solve the stability crisis.