Budapest mayor: 2024 draft budget would ‘bleed Budapest out’ further

Next year’s draft budget would “bleed Budapest out” even further, Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony said in a Facebook post on Thursday.

Government support for the city would come to HUF 34.5 billion (EUR 9.4bn), up from 33 billion this year, meaning that the real value of the funding would decrease, he said.

At the same time, the solidarity tax imposed on the city would increase from HUF 58 billion to 75 billion, he said.

“This year, the city funded the government with HUF 25 billion; next year, that funding would be over 40 billion,” he said.

That money could ensure the city’s operation for 82 days, he noted.

Meanwhile, the draft budget would also cut funding for “activities and services in localities and communities” by one-fifth, “exposing the lie” that the solidarity tax levelled at cities would help support smaller localities, he said. Environmental protection, social services and railways would also suffer, making the budget “not just anti-Budapest but an anti-municipality one”, he said.

Karácsony called on Budapest residents to give their opinions in an ongoing online survey on the city’s affairs.

“The extraordinary situation warrants extraordinary measures: we will take the government to court. We will prove not only that the anti-Budapest policy is harmful for the country but also that it is unlawful,” he said.

Source: MTI