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CONTRAGA: Vice President Bjørnar Skjæran (Labor Party) is not happy with Bent Høie (H) ‘s proposal about mayors who owe money to the crown when municipal budgets do not go “together”. Photo: Gisle Oddstad
The Health Minister believes that some municipalities are unable to manage their own finances and that they owe money to the crown when they ask the state for help. “Provocative,” say several mayors with whom VG has spoken.
– Affirms that municipalities do not have the ability to prioritize. That’s a rough statement, Bjørnar Skjæran, Deputy Leader of the Labor Party, tells VG.
VG wrote on Saturday that Norwegian municipalities spent NOK 350 million on infection control equipment during the first two months of the corona pandemic.
Several municipalities have spoken with VG to say that they have no idea where to cover expenses.
The Minister of Health responded to the concerns of the municipalities in an interview with VG this Monday, where he promises that the government will cover the expenses of the municipalities.
At the same time, he arrived with a message to the country’s rapporteurs:
– It is tempting for a mayor who has to cut back, because he himself has set a budget that does not go hand in hand, and blames the cuts on covid-19 expenses and says that one has not received sufficient compensation. We have seen trends towards this.
– If municipalities have to cut the supply of services, it will be for the same reasons as before, that is, they cannot manage their finances, said Høie.
UNFORGETTABLE: The head of acid at KS, Bjørn Arild Gram, is not impressed by the statements of the Minister of Health. Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB
KS: – Poor knowledge
The statements have made several municipal employees look red, says the president of the municipal sector organization (KS), Bjørn Arild Gram:
– The statements testify to a poor understanding of municipal daily life, Gram tells VG.
– We have data that the municipal economy has weakened notably in recent years. The municipalities had trouble raising the budget this year, and then came the corona pandemic as well.
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Rapporteur: Provocative
Several mayors in the Labor Party agree:
– It was a very provocative case, Jon-Ivar Nygård, mayor of Fredrikstad, tells VG.
– That we use the corona pandemic as an excuse, it is a strange way of relating to us, as Minister of Health, he believes.
In Fredrikstad, the ambition was to cut spending in the health and wellness sector by NOK 150 million in 2020.
– Of course, we have not achieved that this year, when we have also worked with the corona pandemic and the extraordinary expenses that we have had as a consequence of it. The whole approach changes during a pandemic, says Mayor Nygård.
– The municipal sector is in an important restructuring phase.
Marianne Sivertsen Næss, Mayor of the newly merged Hammerfest Township, calls Høie’s statements “sad”:
– The municipalities I know do the best they can. We have never had plans to set a budget that did not go hand in hand. I think it’s a pretty bad comment from the Minister of Health, he tells VG.
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High on the municipalities that are fighting for the crown: – They cannot manage their finances
ASSISTANT LEADER: Bjørnar Skjæran in the Labor Party. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB scanpix
AP: In the worst case, it will lead to layoffs.
Bjørnar Skjæran, Labor Party Leader MP, believes that the municipal economy is already suffering:
– Norway has the worst economic system in 16 years and does not compensate those at the forefront, he believes.
The municipal scheme is the revenue framework provided by the state for municipalities.
– This means that the municipalities, in the worst case scenario, have to resign from those who have been in charge. Norwegian municipalities don’t deserve it.
Gram in KS emphasizes that on several occasions they have demanded a political guarantee that all expenses that municipalities have had related to the corona pandemic will be covered.
– We haven’t received that guarantee yet. That’s much of the reason for the concern in municipalities: the government has not been clear enough. We have not received the insurance that municipalities need, he says.
– Many municipal politicians make difficult decisions every day. Therefore, the characterization of the municipal economy by the Minister of Health is very regrettable and gives a bad signal to the municipalities.
Union leader Mette Nord supports Gram:
– It is unheard of for the Minister of Health to blame the municipalities’ ability to manage the economy at the same time that he divests himself of all government efforts from himself and from the large administrative apparatus at his disposal. They should be on the supply side and do what they can to reduce the burden on municipalities, he tells VG.
She points out that the VG case wrote on Sunday that Norwegian municipalities and hospitals will no longer receive deliveries from the national emergency reserve from 2021.
GIVES GUARANTEES: The Minister of Health, Bent Høie (H), promises that municipalities will have their covid-19 expenses covered. Photo: Terje Bringedal
Høie said on Monday that a committee has now been set up to calculate how compensation will be distributed among municipalities.
Høie promises to give an answer to this during October.
– Then it goes into the additional bill for 2020, which is a further review of the budget for 2020, but the work will also be important for 2021.
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The municipality of Gjesdal in Rogaland is concerned about the long-term consequences.
– Even if direct post-crown expenses are offset, this does not apply to indirect expenses. It could lead to weaker service offerings, at least in Gjesdal, says Mayor Frode Fjeldsbø (Labor).
– The government says that many municipalities have had good years and that this way we have been able to raise money. That’s right, and we can withstand brief fluctuations. But very few will have reserves to deal with the long-term effects this has on us, he believes.
