Residents will pay more taxes from next year. This is because municipal taxes such as sewerage tax, waste tax and property tax (OZB) increase by almost 10% on average. This is stated in the 2024 Program Budget.
An average family with an owner-occupied home will pay an amount of 1,035 euros in 2024 instead of 944 euros now. That is an increase of 91 euros. Housing costs for households with a rental home are lower because they do not pay property tax.
The largest increase concerns the sewerage tax, which is almost 20%. The increase is caused by all kinds of things such as inflation, higher costs, maintenance of ditches, but also by the construction of a new sewer system in Oosterwold. Existing treatment plants that residents have installed themselves are now maintained by the municipality and later removed. That costs more than 65 million euros. These costs are paid from the sewerage tax.
The property tax increases by 7.15%. According to the mayor and aldermen, this increase is mainly based on inflation. The waste tax will increase by 6.9%. This increase is partly caused by the introduction of the new waste collection system. In the future, residents will no longer have to separate their plastic, metal and beverage packaging separately. This is allowed with residual waste. This will be done later by a machine.
Collecting a passport or driver’s license at civil affairs will cost 5.15% more. Parking rates in Almere city will increase by the same percentage. In Almere Buiten, the maximum daily rate of 2 euros will not be increased. This also applies to the subscription and permit rates in that district.
“We are facing a difficult financial situation”
The budget also shows that the municipality has no money for new plans. The mayor and aldermen will mainly be concerned with implementing agreements made in the council agreement. “This year we are forced to reject all new considerationable proposals at this time. Given the financial situation, we had no other choice. This feels unsatisfactory. We realize that this will have consequences for the city.”
The municipality’s piggy bank is also not doing well. The mayor and aldermen have been aiming for years to have a buffer of at least 60 million euros. Such a piggy bank enables the municipality to pay for unforeseen setbacks. This way, cuts are avoided.
The Municipal Executive writes: “We cannot present an expected buffer of 60 million euros at the end of this coalition period in 2026. We would then have to make significant cuts at a time that is already difficult for many residents.” The council expects a buffer of 4.5 million euros in 2026. In order to achieve the savings target of 60 million euros, the council proposes to first put the profit from the sale of building land into the savings pot. The municipal council must determine whether this is allowed.
Major maintenance resolved but will cost more money
Various parts of the city have suffered from overdue maintenance over the years. For example, subsidence is not tackled in a timely manner and bridges or cycle paths are not renewed in time. This is because major maintenance costs a lot of money while the municipality has not saved enough for it. The municipality is now switching from saving to borrowing.
When maintenance is necessary, the municipality will borrow money to carry it out. “We will soon invest more than 30 million euros per year to keep the city in order. With this we are taking a major step towards maintaining public spaces that are intact, clean, safe and climate adaptive.” The disadvantage of borrowing is that the municipality will pay more interest, which makes the total costs higher.
The council also talks about difficult disappointing developments such as declining income from the municipal fund. For example, Almere will receive 20 million euros less from the government from 2026.
Youth care costs are rising again
The costs for youth care are rising again and will amount to more than 122 million euros in 2024. The municipality has been trying to reduce costs for years, but it has not worked. For example, costs have increased by a total of more than 47 million euros since 2020.
The municipal council will soon discuss the 2024 program budget.