The municipality of Emmen will be cutting back 21.5 million euros over the coming five years, and will set aside 20.9 million for Wildlands and youth care.
Translation by Traci White
RTV Drenthe reports that the financial changes were included in a long-term budget which was presented on Monday. The budget had to be adjusted to accommodate for loses at Wildlands adventure park and youth care.
In an effort to put the shuffling funds into perspective, alderperson Jisse Otter told RTV Drenthe that the entire budget through 2023 is roughly two billion euros.
In 2019, 2.2 million euros will go to Wildlands to hopefully begin a structural financial solution for the park’s lacklustre earnings to date. Between 2020 and 2023, the park will also receive 1.8 million euros annually. Youth care in Emmen will have a 2.3 million euros earmarked each year for the coming five years.
The current budget still has 1.8 million euros which has yet to be allocated for 2019. The municipal council wants the remaining funding to go to local initiatives. A portion of the funding has been set aside for illiteracy, road maintenances and efforts to cut back on the number of people on benefits.
However, a range of other projects will not be receiving funding, such as renovations to the Nieuw-Amsterdam/Veenoord sports park and relocating and updating the Emmen library, the sports facility at the Meerdijk and Esdal College.
The municipality will also be working with fewer external advisors and will enact a partial hiring freeze. For citizens of the city, services such as the trash disposal calendar being sent to their homes and a free December city bus will no longer be provided. Tree maintenance will only be carried out once every eight years (as opposed to every six), event organisers will have to pay for clean-up themselves and there will be a general 140,000 euro cutback on culture.
The municipal council will meet to discuss the new planned budget on the 21st of March and will vote on it on 28 March.