At the beginning of October, Tibor Navracsics, Minister of Public Administration and Regional Development, announced that the government would launch a new regional development program called Competitive Roads, with a total amount of HUF 65 billion. The purpose of the new regional development policy is to give dynamism to developing regions and help create a more systematic development programme.
Yes, but this amount will be financed from the settlements' surplus commercial tax revenues in 2025 (they will receive it until 2024), which has already blown the fuse of quite a few mayors – even those from the Fidesz party. For example, András Šer-Balkovics, the mayor of the city of Szekesfehervár, welcomed and approved the announcement, but the mayors of Palašajarmati Gábor Csák, Godoli György Gemisi, and Debrecen László Papp are not enthusiastic about the idea. Very much
Tibor Navracsics was unable to invite the mayors of Pest County to the meeting, so many expressed their dissatisfaction with the local business tax reform (HIPA).
the Free Europe It was learned from several independent sources that the minister did not see the benefit of the consultation he called for on Wednesday in this heated atmosphere, so he canceled it.
From what?
“For my part, I do not consider this acceptable, because the solidarity contribution was created so that the central budget would obtain a source from cities with large tax revenues that would help equalize and eliminate regional disparities, and then this item proposed by the government,” Laszlo Papp, mayor of the city of Debrecen, said: “Now he wants to present it.” It should have appeared as part of the solidarity contribution.” According to him, his city already pays 8 billion Hungarian forints in solidarity contributions annually, and no factories have been established in the city (battery plant, BMW) so that they would then have to distribute the additional income.
The same situation exists in Salgötarjan and Palasagjarmat, but the opposition-led cities are also rebelling against the latest government plan, as in Szeged they hoped to increase the business tax on BYD, while in Érd there are also several large investments on land. Horizon.
The basis of the fear is that the part of the solidarity tax taken from the municipalities will flow into a central fund, and then be distributed in such a way that no one can know precisely where it went and how much it went. In addition, Finance Minister Mihajal Varga hinted that the current amount of 65 billion could rise to 110-120 billion in the future, but did not say from what. Because according to one local government leader, in the current economic and investment environment, given the current trends
It would be impossible to even double it, the Finance Minister said.
“It's different now”
Another reason for this controversy is that, also according to Free Europe sources, mayors and individual representatives in Parliament were simply fighting over who should dispose of the funds. The original plan would have put the reins in the hands of settlement leaders, but some members of parliament from the ruling party, already thinking about the upcoming elections, would see a good opportunity to strengthen their position with such a project, so they began lobbying on their own. The Fidesz-KDP government meeting in Esztergom also allegedly discussed this issue a lot, and the minister convinced the representatives.
“Somewhere, it is natural that if the mayor heard that they wanted to deduct him from the revenues of his settlement, it would make his hair stand on end. But now we have to convince them that this is not a classic withdrawal as in the case of the solidarity tax: the money will remain locally, but will serve Today, the city, especially the more developed industrial settlement, does not exist in itself. For example, in the factories that produce hepa, there are a lot of people working from the surrounding small towns, who use the city services in the same way, spending a large part of the. “These matters must be seen and dealt with together,” a government source told the newspaper.
That's why Tibor Navraskes began traveling across the country to convince settlement leaders. “The entire program has a dual purpose. On the one hand, to reduce the huge gap between Budapest and the parts of the country outside the capital. Budapest has a development rate of 156 percent of the EU level, while the most developed Hungarian region, Central Transdanubia, has a development rate of 156 percent.” 71 percent. It may be clear to everyone that this matter needs to change. On the other hand, we are introducing a regional approach to development policy. The large city and its surrounding settlements form a single unit, whether it is related to transportation, education, or health services “Our goal is to organize these matters on a regional basis in the future,” he told Radio Kossuth in the morning.
In addition, on the initiative of the Mayor of Kaposvár, Karoly Zeta Submitted A draft law to significantly increase the salaries of mayors and mayors has been submitted to Parliament. The bill would adjust salaries to the average wage in the national economy We wrote more here.
