The funding planned for municipalities in next year's draft state budget will not only make them tighten their belts even more, but also threaten the interests of the people living in the regions, according to the view of the Greens and Farmers Union (ZZS).
Several heads of local governments came the meeting of the ZZS faction Wednesday, who believe that if next year's budget is adopted in its current version, local governments will not be able to fulfill all their functions.
"We already patched up the budget this year with property sales, but next year it simply cannot happen so we can help people. Forgive me, a man was stabbed in Grobiņa this week, but we can't afford to put [surveillance] cameras connected to the police. What else can I do!" said Aivars Priedols (ZZS), chairman of the South Kurzeme Regional Council.
Ivars Gorskis (Latvian Farmers' Union), the mayor of Dobele, stressed that public transport in Dobele is being cut, but at the same time the law mandates that teachers be compensated for their transport costs.
ZZS will appeal to the Ministry of Finance not to withhold funds from the budget that by law are due to municipalities, such as the forecast overfulfilment of personal income tax collection.
It is too early to say whether ZZS might not support the 2025 state budget without reaching an agreement on funding for municipalities.
"The budget has not yet been adopted, it must be approved by the Saeima. Let's see how the [Finance] Ministry works and what it brings," said Harijs Rokpelnis, head of the ZZS Saeima faction.
The draft state budget for next year is expected to be presented to the Saeima in two weeks' time.
