Student & Stad wants Groningen to be managed in a financially sound and responsible way. Money can only be spent once. The municipality has built up a high debt burden over the past decades, while the national government keeps passing on more responsibilities to municipalities with insufficient resources. In the short term, Groningen is still in reasonable shape due to strong buffers, good risk management, and windfalls. But the long term requires choices: reducing debt without cutting back on investments that help the city move forward.
Student & Stad wants Groningen to be managed in a financially sound and responsible way. Money can only be spent once. The municipality has built up a high debt burden over the past decades, while the national government keeps passing on more responsibilities to municipalities with insufficient resources. In the short term, Groningen is still in reasonable shape due to strong buffers, good risk management, and windfalls. But the long term requires choices: reducing debt without cutting back on investments that help the city move forward.
FINANCES
We oppose the budget cuts from the government and demand structurally sufficient funding to carry out our tasks. Tasks for which too little funding is received, such as the Individual Study Allowance, we return to the government when this improves execution.
We keep buffers in check and ensure that risks within the budget can be absorbed with robust risk management.
We want to reduce our debt burden in the long term by borrowing less than we repay. We will sell land ownership in Meerstad in phases to pay down the largest loans.
We outline major investment challenges and annually make a clear prioritization based on affordability and timing.
We invest as much as possible together with partners so that the municipality does not have to pay alone for projects that are beneficial to the whole province. We also actively secure European subsidies for Groningen projects.
We impose a tax on long-term vacancy, so that speculators can no longer keep properties deliberately vacant while there is a housing shortage.
We oppose the budget cuts from the government and demand structurally sufficient funding to carry out our tasks. Tasks for which too little funding is received, such as the Individual Study Allowance, we return to the government when this improves execution.
We keep buffers in check and ensure that risks within the budget can be absorbed with robust risk management.
We want to reduce our debt burden in the long term by borrowing less than we repay. We will sell land ownership in Meerstad in phases to pay down the largest loans.
We outline major investment challenges and annually make a clear prioritization based on affordability and timing.
We invest as much as possible together with partners so that the municipality does not have to pay alone for projects that are beneficial to the whole province. We also actively secure European subsidies for Groningen projects.
We impose a tax on long-term vacancy, so that speculators can no longer keep properties deliberately vacant while there is a housing shortage.