The mayor of Grafenwörth stumbled across a property affair. Before the withdrawal, his designated successor introduced himself: Johannes Pressl, head of the community of Ardagger. At a press conference, he called, among other things, for one billion to be made available to the municipalities in addition to the agreed funds from financial equalization.
Pressl is to be chosen by the board of the community association on Monday; he is the only candidate. The new election became necessary after Riedl stumbled upon a property and dedication affair in his home community of Grafenwörth and resigned from his office in mid-2023. But he waited until today to withdraw. If he hadn’t left office before the board, he would have been voted out.
In a broadcast from the community association it is only announced that Riedl stated in a letter to the general secretariat and the members of the federal executive board that he would be resigning next Sunday. This means that the election of the new president at the Federal Executive Board meeting on February 26th can be carried out in accordance with the statutes, confirms General Secretary Walter Leiss.
“Committed and powerful”
Pressl had previously described Riedl in his press conference as a “committed and powerful representative of interests”. He sees the property affair primarily as a matter for the community of Grafenwörth.
Pressl also sees himself as a representative of the interests of 40,000 local councilors. In this role, he is demanding an additional billion from the federal government for this year – and more money will also be needed next year. These should be direct allocations without compensation. The situation should then have stabilized financially.
Pressl justified the fact that the funds from the financial equalization that was only negotiated at the end of the previous year would not be sufficient based on the developments of the past few months. Inflation, wage developments, stagnating income and interest rate developments would weaken the municipalities’ ability to invest. This year, 30 to 40 percent of the municipalities would not be able to balance their budgets.
Limitation on land consumption “unrealistic”
Keeping communities capable of investing is not only important for the communities themselves, Pressl promoted his demand. Because this also enables investments in the local economy.
The future community leader is skeptical about the government’s ideas regarding land consumption. Pressl considers the goal of limiting daily land consumption in Austria to 2.5 hectares to be “unrealistic”.
When it comes to freedom of information, the matter has been decided: “We are looking forward.” He is also planning discussions with data protection experts to clarify what should be understood as being of public interest. In any case, what the communities didn’t want was a bureaucratic monster.
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