Riga City Council’s budget for 2021 may be EUR 17.2 million short. The reduction may be even larger, said chairman of Riga City Council Martins Stakis has declared.
Stakis said work on the municipality’s budget for 2021 continued, but it was already clear what the level of consolidation would be and which departments of Riga City Council could expect reduced funding.
“However, there are three sectors – social sphere, pre-school education and infrastructure – where no reduction is planned. Others, however, should expect tightening their belts,” said Stakis.
Riga’s mayor had previously allowed that because of reduced PIT revenue it might be necessary to consolidate Riga’s next year budget by EUR 20 million.
“These EUR 20 million are needed to ensure zero budget and avoid cutting wages,” said the politician.
According to Stakis, right now the municipality is looking at what activities could be postponed and which expenditures could be cut short.
For example, some money can be saved on SIA Rigas satiksme – both in relation to e-ticked system, which was inflated, and in relation to “inflated subsidies for shuttle buses”, said Riga’s mayor.
Still, some savings have been found in each department. Stakis said some decisions might not be liked by many. For example, he argued if it was necessary to continue maintaining the Honor Gate on Brivibas Boulevard, which cost EUR 70,000 a year.
As previously reported, the legislative draft On State Budget 2021 and legislative draft On Medium-Term Budget Content 2021, 2022 and 2023 provide for reducing the share of municipalities in PIT revenue from 80% to 75%.
The 5% reduction of PIT revenue means reducing municipal base budget revenue by EUR 90.9 million. (BNN/Business World Magazine)