The new political leadership of the South Moravian Region had only fourteen days to prepare the budget for next year. The new tax legislation recently approved by the Czech Parliament, which cancels the super-gross wage, will cause a substantial decrease of CZK 677 million in the regional budget compared to 2020. Photo credit: Jan Grolich I Hejtman JMK via Facebook.
Czech Rep., Dec 4 (BD) – “We called the budget a Survival Game. And we are not including [in the budget proposal] other parliamentary proposals to increase the tax cuts, with which we would be in a deficit of CZK 1.5 billion, that would be a near death,” said Jan Grolich (KDU-CSL), the new Governor of the South Moravian Region. “The 2021 budget will have to be smarter, more economical and more efficient,” he added.
In total, South Moravia will lose CZK 1.175 billion due to changes to the tax system and the economic downturn caused by the ongoing epidemic.
The new budget will keep in mind the goals of regional family and social policy, as these sectors will not be a primary target of the planned cuts. “The cuts will affect almost every area of life in the region. It will be difficult, but we have to manage it. The priority is the area of social services, as I cannot imagine that we would leave people in need without any help at this time. The budget will also be slightly increased for measures to combat drought. Nature will not wait,” explained Grolich.
The regional budget for 2021 will run on a deficit, with revenues forecast at CZK 7.4 billion and expenditures at CZK 8.1 billion. On the expenditure side, the largest area of spending is planned for transport, over CZK 3 billion. The second-largest expenditure will go to education, around CZK 1 billion.
The draft budget for 2021 was recommended by the Regional Council for approval by the Regional Assembly (zastupitelstvo) on Tuesday, December 1st. Representatives will vote on the proposal on December 17th.
