The bargain leaves room for the budget

The bargain leaves room for the budget

The budget was on the board committee table on Tuesday. Mayor Cees van den Bos was able to announce positive news: instead of 2.2 million, “only” 330,000 euros will have to be taken from the general reserve over the next four years to balance the budget.

A great deal, but how strong is the government’s commitment to make the money really come? Mayor Cees van den Bos reassured committee members: “We are taking a responsible risk.”

The expected financial boost is due to a higher contribution from the central government. Until 2025, the municipality will receive between five tonnes and one million euros additional each year. In addition to this, an additional windfall is expected because the municipality is in the running for the status of beneficiary municipality. However, with this benefit not yet certain, the province, as supervisor, advised not to include the benefit in the budget yet. This led to question marks among committee members on Tuesday night? Because is it wise to include it already and shouldn’t there be a Plan B if it doesn’t go ahead? Mayor Cees van den Bos: ,, We have an ambitious budget that fits into an evolving and growing Urk. We are on a leap of scale from less than twenty thousand inhabitants to nearly thirty thousand. It is really a fundamentally different municipality and it also requires a different device. We have to bring in the resources that we hope to get. The risk is limited and we have discussed it in depth with the province. It’s a responsible risk and of course there is a plan B, but we don’t assume we need it. We must always remain vigilant about the expenses that we make.

The committee also asked about the hiring of staff. Hart voor Urk had recently tabled a motion on this and wanted to know what happened to it. In this document, the party, supported by a majority, called for a critical look at the hiring of third parties. Mayor Van den Bos said the motion at the time was motivated by a budget deficit that no longer exists. But that doesn’t mean we didn’t. We must always be critical of spending, especially when it comes to government spending. But such a large and rapidly growing municipality with ambitious projects also requires a changing administrative apparatus. Business is now at a standstill due to a lack of staff. We have to make sure things are managed well, and that takes capacity. We want to reduce the cost of hiring by more than a million, because we are not deaf to the noise of the town hall.

The budget will be discussed again at the next municipal council in November.