On Wednesday morning, the finance committee discussed the draft budget of the state of Vorarlberg for the coming year. Opinions on the priorities of black and blue differed widely.
For the black and blue state government, the draft for the 2025 budget is a clear signal for an active location policy, but for the opposition it is a declaration of bankruptcy. The fact is that the investment share, at 116.1 million euros, is higher than ever before.
Given the economically challenging environment, it is important to invest specifically in the future, VP club president Veronika Marte emphasizes: “This is also reflected in the 2025 budget. Despite a small increase in income, we are investing massively in the location, and integrally. This affects the areas of economy, infrastructure and the future subject of education.”
Marte cannot understand why the opposition would have wanted significantly more impetus, especially in the area of images: “Here we really have to concentrate on the facts and leave the church in the village. We must also take into account that the number of students will decrease in the coming years as a result of demographic developments.”
Debt will continue to grow
The fact is also that the debt level will increase further due to the record investments and is expected to be around 650 million euros by the end of 2025. “In the future we will have to question every budget item. There is no way to increase governance efficiency,” said VP Finance spokesperson Patrick Wiedl, announcing austerity measures for the coming years.
Criticism of tunnel spider
On the opposition side, they would of course know where savings need to be made now – namely on the controversial tunnel spider project in Feldkirch: ‘With the 160 million that the tunnel spider will devour in the next three years alone, we could build 1,000. affordable non-profit apartments, safe care or promotion of energy autonomy,” calculates Daniel Zadra, club chairman of the Green Party.
His assessment of the draft is devastating: “On the whole, the black and blue budget is a declaration of bankruptcy for the future.” The Neos and the SPÖ saw it the same way, which is why the draft budget was only approved by voice vote in the finance committee of the ÖVP and FPÖ.
Source: Krone

I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.