A remarkable message from financial councilor Klaas de Vries (Sterk Meppel) of the municipality of Meppel. “If I were The Hague, I would give the municipalities less money. That seems like a no-brainer to me.”
Municipalities have been in turmoil in recent years. A period loomed in which all local authorities would run out of money, because The Hague would pay out less money. But last year the government made extra billions available to accommodate this. The so-called ravine year was averted.
In the meantime, Meppel’s finances are rosy this year. Last year the municipality was left with ‘almost 15 million euros’, as De Vries puts it. “But that’s quite a lot of money.” Last year the municipality was in the same situation, because in 2024 Meppel also had almost 15 million left over.
Any money left over by a municipality at the end of the year disappears into the reserve fund. It is up to the city council to decide to do something about that again. Meppel’s reserve pot is now well filled.
“And we are certainly not the only municipality with a lot of money in reserves. We are not in favor of having as much money as possible, but to carry out social tasks.” This means that De Vries says that he will not be surprised if The Hague gives less money to municipalities. A ‘no-brainer’ as far as he is concerned.
“I will know, especially with what is going on. The government ultimately compensated municipalities more than necessary. If you look purely at the reserves of the municipalities, you can imagine why you have to give so much money.”
Yet this 15 million euros suits Meppel well. There is a lot to look forward to: a new swimming pool, a major renovation of the town hall, the theater is being renovated, new schools must be built and Nijeveen would like a multifunctional center. “With the current market, everything quickly becomes more expensive. A new bridge suddenly costs a million more, for example.”
It was recently announced that the renovation of the theater will be more than 4 million euros more expensive than the planned 23 million euros. De Vries expects that this will happen to several projects.
“So we have to be a bit careful about spending these 15 million again right away.” The reserve fund of the municipality of Meppel now stands at 57.3 million euros.
