City of Vienna further in debt in 2013
The level of debt run up by the Social Democrat controlled Vienna city council is at a record high after increasing by 285 million EUR in the last year to 4.63 billion EUR
The statistics show that the city paid 84 percent of its running investment costs from the current budget, but about 16 percent was not covered and resulted in new debt.
From 2016 because of the implication of new brakes on such spending it will no longer be allowed. In 2013 the city paid out 12.471 billion EUR which according to the city’s financial controller Renate Brauner met with the terms of the stability pact.
The expenditure included 1.94 billion EUR on building works including improving and safeguarding the freshwater supply by renewing water pipes and purification plants.
Social expenditure was at 3.37 billion EUR and expenditure on education and childcare just shy of 2 billion EUR.
In terms of the numbers employed by the city of Vienna including its sub companies like Wiener Wohnen, the Wiener Krankenanstaltenverbund and Wien Kanal were at the end of last year involving 56,720 full-time positions which is slightly down from the previous year when it was 56,830.
The budget was criticised by the opposition Freedom Party (FPÖ) which said that by 2016 they expect the debt to be even larger at exactly the point when the city is supposed to stop paying back.
FPÖ-Vienna party chief Johann Gudenus said there was about to be an avalanche of fees likely after the Vienna election in 2015. He said: “Vienna according to the latest auditor’s report in 2013 had a net deficit of 16 percent. After 2016 however a net deficit is no longer allowable. By 2016 therefore, in order to make sure that income matches expenditure with a zero, Vienna needs to either need to cut expenditure significantly or increase its income.
ÖVP leader Manfred Juraczka added: “There is nowhere in Europe or indeed in Austria where the path the Socialists are taking that involves making more debts is attracting a majority vote. Yet for some reason Brauner is following this red line.”