On February 19, 2024, Deputy Mayor Diána Széles presented the aspects of Debrecen’s 2024 budget draft in the context of the caring city concept in a press conference.
The deputy mayor spoke about the maintenance of health, social and public education institutions (Debrecen Primary Care and Health Development Institute, DMJV City Social Service, DMJV Family and Child Welfare Center, nurseries, kindergartens), support for their programs (Mozdulj, Debrecen!) and social benefits the city plans to spend a total of HUF 14.6 billion, which is an 18.7 percent increase compared to last year.
While in the city’s care institution system, institutional wages in 2023 totaled HUF 10.4 billion, the 2024 budget plans the total of institutional wages at HUF 13.2 billion. This means that the salary increase for kindergarten staff will be between 17 and 32 percent, while in social institutions it will be 17 percent, compared to the salaries in November 2023.
Social supports
She pointed out that the amount allocated to social benefits in this year’s budget is expected to increase from HUF 376 million in 2023 to HUF 420 million, which represents an increase of 11.7 percent.
The planned subsidies are as follows:
housing maintenance allowance for several personal households HUF 10,800; HUF 12,000 if living alone);
in-kind support (firewood – 25 maza),
debt reduction support of a maximum of HUF 225,000 (banded depending on income);
periodical monetary support (from a minimum of HUF 4,000 to a maximum of HUF 100,000, for 2-6 months);
the occasional financial support (from a minimum of HUF 5,000 to a maximum of HUF 150,000 – except in case of fire, in which case up to HUF 500,000 can be requested);
funeral support (max. 30% of costs can be applied for in bands depending on income, up to HUF 139,000);
welfare support (increases from HUF 36,000 to HUF 42,000);
school start subsidy (increases from HUF 9,600 to HUF 11,100 per child), medicine subsidy (HUF 28,500, which can be applied for a maximum of 6 times a year) for the costs of public funerals (a total of HUF 45 million is budgeted for this form of support);
Subsidy of the waste management public service fee for persons over 70 years of age (up to the age of 70-75, based on need. Over 75, regardless of income – a total of HUF 152 million planned for this purpose);
free use of Nagyerdei Spa or Kerekestelepi Strandfürdő for persons over 65 upon request (a total of HUF 51 million planned for this purpose);
support given to the mother of a child born on Debrecen City Day (one-time support of HUF 150,000);
support for people turning 101 or later (you can apply for it from the office, you will receive HUF 1,000 support on each birthday as many times as you are old);
social rent subsidy (depends on income, the application must be submitted to the social department and then attached to the application submitted to Cívis Ház).
Investments
As for the investments that belong to the idea of a caring city: concerning the Municipal Social Service, HUF 60 million is planned in this year’s budget to continue the modernization of the home for the elderly in Pallagi út. In the Postakert district, the kindergarten in Zelemér Street is expected to be handed over in the fall of 2024 – this is an investment worth HUF 1.2 billion. The municipality is expected to spend HUF 60 million on the repair and development of kindergarten and nursery school playground equipment. The following GP practices will be renovated: Thomas Mann u. 45. (HUF 86 million), Nagymacs (HUF 74.3 million), Angyalföld tér medical clinic renovation planning (HUF 25 million). HUF 10 million has been planned in the budget for the accessibility of GP clinics. HUF 144 million is included in the draft budget for other operating tasks of local government institutions, and HUF 312 million for smaller investments by local government institutions. The construction of the running track in Józsa (HUF 102 million) and the construction of the new location of the Family and Children’s Welfare Center at Mátyás király u. under 29 (HUF 23.2 million), the design of the dining room of the Gönczy Pál Street school (HUF 12 million), the planning of the renovation of the Csapókert Primary School (HUF 20 million) and the construction of the gymnasium of the Epreskerti Primary School (HUF 1 billion – of which 450 million forints of municipal self-sufficiency). The deputy mayor also said that the renovation of the Margit tér swimming pool is of utmost importance to him, which the Debrecen Property Management will carry out in its investment, expected this year. Diána Széles also considers those developments in public areas that serve the well-being of the city’s citizens to be particularly important: the playground development program (120 million forints), the design of the Tócóvölgy recreation park (50 million forints), the development of the surroundings of the Vezér Street lake (30 million forints) and the Development of Szent István Park (HUF 10 million).
Support of civil organizations and young talents
The support of civil organizations providing social and child welfare tasks through a supply contract will increase from HUF 26,500,000 last year to HUF 38,500,000 this year.
A total of HUF 47.6 million in the Civil, Youth and Cultural Fund, HUF 4 million in the Cívis Talentum scholarship, HUF 20.6 million in the Békessy sports scholarship, HUF 15 million for the Bursa Hungarica scholarship, HUF 7.4 million in support of student sports activities HUF, HUF 2 million will be available to support the Public Foundation for Talented Debrecen Youth.
Family and Child Welfare Center of DMJV
In the framework of the press conference, Aurélia Ibolya Orosz, head of the institution, presented the activities of the DMJV’s Family and Child Welfare Center – mainly from the point of view of child protection. From January 1, 2023, in addition to the units of the Family and Child Welfare Center and the Service, transitional care was also included in the institution’s tasks. According to the head of the institution, this was a very good decision, because in this way they can help families in a more complex way. After all, if a family finds themselves in such a situation that their housing is not resolved, they can help the family 24 hours a day in the framework of temporary care. The children’s temporary home has also been managed by the institution, where they can help the children of Debrecen with 9 beds if their situation at home becomes impossible, for example if a conflict develops within the family that becomes unmanageable. A child can also request to be admitted to this home, a safe environment, in his own right. Aurélia Orosz Ibolya emphasized: this also shows that they can handle the situation of families facing the problem in a complex manner. The signaling system works very well in Debrecen. What does this mean? The Child Protection Act obliges public education institutions and health care providers to notify the Family and Child Welfare Center if they believe that the fate of a child or adult, such as an elderly person, is not appropriate. Thanks to the signaling system, they receive more and more signals every year, but this does not mean that the problems in Debrecen are increasing, but that everyone involved has learned what to do concerning the signaling system, and it indicates problems. Incidentally, the center is holding a meeting on the operation of the signaling system this week, the topic of which will be abuse. Aurélia Orosz Ibolya thanked all her 178 colleagues for their dedicated and precise work because without them they would not be able to be in contact with so many families. They were in contact with 3254 children in the last year and this means 2150 families. As of 2018, kindergarten and school social assistance activities were also introduced, i.e. they have a relationship with all public education institutions – kindergartens, schools – and this currently means paying attention to 38,400 children. 10,603 of them used the center’s services in some way in the past year. Together with their special services, a total of 14,800 people used their services. According to Aurélia Orosz Ibolya, the Family and Child Welfare Center reaches everyone in Debrecen. They also have a very good relationship with civil organizations and churches. This system of contacts also helped in that, for example, before winter set in, they sought out every single person in their sight in the city, and thus managed to save an elderly person from freezing to death. Such a tragic incident did not happen this winter in Debrecen.
Csaba Papp, director of the Institute of Primary Care and Health Development in Debrecen, gave an account of the results of the institute’s Pósa Street school health screening center for the 2022/2023 academic year, when 13,684 children were screened.
Health promotion activities of the caring city
The health promotion activities of the caring city include Mozdulj, Debrecen! movement programs (spinal gymnastics, yoga, zumba, refreshing gymnastics, heart-friendly themed walks, community runs). As part of the movement launched in October 2021, a total of 1,544 programs have taken place so far, including – Move, Debrecen!, operated by the Debrecen Sports Center. together with 10,883 participants of the school program – a total of 55,350 people participated. It is of great importance that Mozdulj, Debrecen started its work in 2023. The Downtown Health Development Center is also located at Szent Anna u. 11., where Debrecen residents who want to take care of their health are waiting for health screenings with numerous activities that strengthen health preservation and health awareness.
Support of the Mother’s Milk Collection Station
Since 2014, the local government has provided HUF 10 million annually for the operating expenses of the Mother’s Milk Collection Station and for the continuous provision of organized breast milk collection, and this will continue in 2024.
Tourism of Debrecen
Deputy Mayor Diána Széles also spoke about tourism topics in connection with the topic of the briefing. As she said, the number of guest nights spent in Debrecen by visitors to the city increased by 5.2% in 2023 compared to 2022. While ten years ago, in 2014, 29 percent of those spending the night as a guest were foreign tourists, by 2023 this had already increased to 48 percent. In connection with VisitDebrecen’s professional tasks, the municipality estimates HUF 172.8 million in costs in 2024. Tourism tax revenue increased by 17.9 percent in 2023 compared to 2022. The planned city revenue from this type of tax is HUF 160 million by 2024.
In Debrecen, the smart city card based on the foundations of the e-identity card was created for the first time in the country, of which nearly 24,500 are currently in circulation. With the help of the Debrecen City Card and the newly introduced Debrecen Junior City Card, from April 1, 2024, children between the ages of 6 and 14 who are enrolled in kindergartens or students in public education institutions operating in Debrecen can travel free of charge on DKV Zrt. flights.
(debrecen.hu)
