The general assembly of Debrecen approved this year’s budget for the city on Thursday, the total amount of which is HUF 181.69 billion.
This is a little lower than last year, but with the resources expected to arrive during the year, it could even exceed 200 billion – Mayor László Papp (Fidesz-KDNP) indicated at the meeting held in the Árpád Hall of the County Hall regarding the renovation of the town hall.
Before the agenda was discussed, the representatives of the Democratic Coalition (DK) withdrew from the room because, in their opinion, the construction of the planned Chinese battery factory contradicts the environmental protection goals stated in the introduction of the budget. For similar reasons – as previously indicated – the representatives of the Civil Forum association did not participate in the debate either.
On the opposition side, only István Madarasi (MSZP) spoke, who, among other things, objected that the government withdrawal – solidarity contribution – reduces the municipality’s room for maneuver in using its own revenues. According to him, the total amount of the budget represents a decrease compared to last year’s budget due to inflation.
Mayor László Papp said that this year’s city budget fully ensures the dynamics and development that characterized Debrecen in recent years. At the same time, the budget was born “at the cost of many difficulties”, he explained, “we had to face high inflation, high demands for wage increases, the drastic increase in energy costs”, and create a balance between development policy and ensuring operations.
He added that slightly more than HUF 50 billion from this year’s budget will be spent on developments and investments, while the other funds will cover the operation of the city and institutions, wages, and energy costs.
László Papp emphasized: Debrecen is a prominent development center of the country, and one of the strongest centers in Central Europe can be established in Debrecen. Accordingly, the strategic areas of the budget are economic development, transport development, environmental protection and sustainability, and health protection, he said.
“Economic development has no energy, water, or labor limitations in Debrecen,”
– the mayor dispelled doubts about this.
At the same time, he mentioned the need for energy improvements, which the government also advocates, and in connection with the battery factory, he drew attention to the innovative solution that will not use drinking water for production, but purified wastewater, so-called gray water.
In relation to the latter, he noted: their own monitoring system will be set up to check compliance with environmental protection regulations with the involvement of the University of Debrecen, the nuclear research institute, experts from the authorities and NGOs.
He also spoke about how the central element of the HUF two billion transport development is the construction of an underground parking garage in the city center, and the panel program will be restarted with half a billion HUF as part of the environmental protection program. He indicated: they are preparing to take a HUF 2.5 billion loan, of which HUF 1.6 billion will be used to renew the city’s public lighting system.
László Papp also said that protective afforestation will continue, health screening programs will be launched in cooperation with the clinic and the Debrecen Health Development and Primary Care Institute, and an average wage increase of 15 percent will take place in the city’s institutions.
Debrecen’s budget for this year was adopted by the general assembly with twenty-four votes in favor and five against, with one representative abstaining.
MTI
