The municipality of Assen saved about 40 million euros last year. Less money was spent or more came in than budgeted in almost all policy areas. This is evident from the annual accounts for 2022.
A total of 23 million euros is put into the municipal piggy bank, also known as the General Reserve.
The compensation for the reception of Ukrainian refugees, which turned out to be higher than expected, and the corona support for the past two years are the main causes of the millions left over by the municipality. Furthermore, more building fees (costs for processing permit applications) were received than the municipality had taken into account.
“Other notable windfalls were a release from the pension provision for former board members and lower personnel costs. These are mainly caused because it is difficult for the municipality, like many other organisations, to fill vacancies”, the municipality writes.
The municipal council also wants to put another 17 million euros in several jars. A large part of this (almost 15 million) has to be used for major maintenance of municipal property. A much smaller share (about 4 tons) is intended for aid and reconstruction to Ukraine.
Despite the plus recorded by Assen, alderman Albert Smit of Finance does not count himself rich, he says. “We desperately need the buffer that we are building up now from 2026. All municipalities together will then be about 3 billion short of being able to properly perform all tasks.”