SDP’s proposal for an increase of one million euros was voted down at the Lahti council’s budget meeting. The parties argue about whether to talk about cuts or increases.
The Lahti council discussed the funding of basic education for hours on Monday. The city council initially unanimously proposed adjustment measures of one million euros for basic education. The largest group SDP was also negotiating the proposal of the city council, but it decided at the last minute to make its own proposal, in which one million euros would be added to basic education.
Disappointment towards the Democrats was heard in the speeches of many councilors. In several speeches, there was talk about the \”upper house\ which makes presentations from outside the council. The upper house meant SDP’s municipal organization, which announced last Friday that the party wants additional investments in basic education.
A cut or a spending increase?
The situation will be reassessed in January
The board of education unanimously approved the savings for basic education in the fall. Now the savings request decided by the council will be on the board’s table in January.
The office holders prepare a list for the decision-makers, how next year’s appropriations will be distributed. After that, the decision-makers consider whether it is politically possible.
The council anticipated that the cultural services would need a supplementary budget next year. Some of the councilors criticized the decision-makers for deliberate under-budgeting. Statutory obligations must be taken care of. This year, the council had to approve an exceptionally large supplementary budget for cultural services. According to Sonja Falk, the supplementary budget is due to the fact that the economy has not been closely monitored.
– There has been a somewhat relaxed approach to financial matters, says Falk.
According to Marju Markkanen, chairman of the board of education, this is not true.
– Early childhood education has a service voucher system, which cannot be fully predicted. A budget is always an estimate. I can assure you that in terms of culture, we don’t live in a big way, says Markkanen.
The economic situation is deteriorating
The annual margin of the budget approved by the council is 44 million euros. The deficit for the financial year is 9.3 million. According to the financial plan, the deficit for 2024 will be 48 million euros, and in 2025 the deficit will swell to 56 million euros.