Seven out of the 13 deputies either did not attend the meeting or abstained in the vote on the inclusion of the budget issue on the agenda, so it was not possible to view the item. Consequently, Rēzekne Municipality is the only municipality in Latvia that has not fulfilled the requirement to approve the budget by February 21.
In the case of Rezekne, it also means that the municipality is also unlikely to receive the EUR 5 million loan promised by the Ministry of Finance, which is necessary to stabilize the financial situation of the city. The municipality will now await further decisions of the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development.
Raimonds Olehno, executive director of Rezekne local government, said ahead of Wednesday's meeting that the budget working group submitted two options – a draft budget with a deficit of 3.5 million euros and a balanced budget, in which case voluntary initiatives of the local government, vacation allowances for employees and other expenses were revoked.
“The proposals had been prepared as early as January and there was the first Council meeting on January 19 when they were rejected. And on February 19, there was the second Council meeting where they had been rejected.[..] If Members have any other solutions to balance the budget, it is the work and responsibility of the Finance Committee, but on the part of the working group everything was done,” Olehno said.
He also acknowledged that he “doesn't have that much optimism, but of course, for a while, the municipality will continue to perform its functions, but it's a matter of time.”
He forecast that in two or three months the municipality will run out of money to pay salaries, municipal bills and perform autonomous functions.
The opposition of the City Council says that now is the time for the dismissal of the City Council.
“I'm very sorry to admit it, but it looks like this City Council is incapacitated and needs to be let go, there are no options there because it's just destructive,” said Jānis Zeltiņš (Progressives), deputy of Rēzekne City Council.
The Ministry of Finance notes that the fact that Rēzekne's budget has not been approved will reach the Ministry of Environmental Protection and Regional Development, which should then decide what to do.
