Budapest to spend ‘necessary amount’ of a rising revenue share on public transport
The Budapest municipalityʼs shares in revenue will increase at the expense of the capitalʼs 23 districts but it will have to spend “the necessary amount” rather than a specified ratio of its dues to provide public transport services under an amendment submitted by the government to Parliament yesterday, Hungarian news agency MTI reported.
The proposal is in the same bill as a proposed cut of the VAT on home construction, which is expected to be voted on today after Prime Minister Orbán Viktor requested an urgent parliamentary discussion.
At present, the Budapest municipality receives 51% of the revenues it must share with the Budapest districts, and it must spend 4% of these revenues on public transport.
From 2016 on, the central municipality would have to spend the “amount necessary” for the provision of public transport from its due while its share would rise to 52.5% in 2016 and to 54% from 2017. At the same time, districtsʼ combined share would drop first to 47.5% and then to 46%.
Budapestʼs public transport is under-financed, and Budapest mayor István Tarlós said last week he would meet Orbán to consult on the long-term financing of Budapest Transport Company (BKV). Reacting to comments from János Lázár, the head of the Prime Ministerʼs Office, Tarlós said in early December that there was little chance of the state taking over BKV, but the city was ready to part with its “only unsolvable problem”.
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