The city is economically strong, and we have reserves, but there is a serious chance that they will be over in the coming months, depending on how long the unrealistic energy situation will last – mayor László Papp told Index. This week, the city manager will present the government-mandated expenditure reduction management plan.
In the interview, László Papp stated that in the case of a city the size of Debrecen, it is a matter of serious billions, so it is not enough to simply tighten the belt to manage energy costs, because this increase in costs simply cannot be managed.
However, in our decisions, we treat the smooth operation of kindergartens, nurseries, and the social institution system as a priority
– he highlighted.
According to the mayor, there will obviously be measures that will affect sports and cultural facilities. Still, the goal is to reorganize the city’s institutional system for the critical months ahead without ceasing functions. As an example, he mentioned that the Kodály Philharmonic and the Csokonai Theater will be moving to the new, recently handed-over Csokonai Forum building for the next few months. The Vocational Training Center in Debrecen also uses this practice. In addition to all this, he explained that we may have an institution that we will temporarily close.
László Papp revealed that no decision has yet been made on the extraordinary sale of assets, but it has a significant advantage that large job-creating investments – e.g. BMW, CATL, and Semcorp – thanks to which the city is carrying out significant sales of industrial real estate. However, the income generated in this way cannot be spent on improvements, because it must be used to finance the city’s daily energy costs.
I don’t hold out too much hope that the local governments will receive serious help from the government in the next period, given that the reduction in utility costs represents an extremely large burden for the central budget, but thanks to this, a significant part of Hungarian society will be able to survive this very difficult period
– said László Papp, adding: this is an extraordinary challenge for local governments, and in addition to having to cope with increasing costs, local governments with significant tax revenues also pay into the central budget with a solidarity contribution.
Debrecen will transfer more than HUF 5 billion from next year’s income to the state, the mayor revealed.
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