Almere cuts budget by another 7 million euro's

Almere

After cutting Almere's budget by 17 million euro's in the spring, councilman Mark Pol of the Conservative VVD announcing the proposed budget for 2014 said the City budget would be cut by another 7 million euro's.

It was also announced that the Dutch Government  had cut Almere's subsidy from the National City Council Fund by 6 million euro's and that the City would receive euro 900.000 less for school housing purposes.

All these budget cuts for Almere come in addition to budget cuts which now total 48 million since 2010.

Presently Almere has 195,000 inhabitants and 14,500 businesses. . It is also considered one of  Europe's fastest growing cities and is well on the way to become the fifth largest city in the Netherlands over the next twenty years.

These budget cuts are seen as potential dangers to Almere's future development and growth. The city is only 38 years old and is seen by many architects around the world as Europe's most modern and environmentally advanced cities

Almere-Digest

Almere : some EURO 86 million appropriated money for job creating projects still on the shelf

It has been reported that in Flevoland millions of euros in 2006  investment funds, which were earmarked  for stimulating the economy there are still held back in the Province administration capital of Lelystad.

Consequently many projects did not get off the ground. This is the conclusion of a Court of Auditors report on the investment program Flevoland-Almere (IFA).

The IFA, which has a term of ten to fifteen years to administer Government funds, specially aimed at the 'unique urban climate of Almere' designed to develop and market the economic position of Almere in the North Wing of the Randstad. 

The idea was also to encourage entrepreneurs and residents to come up with appealing ideas for Almere. For example social, cultural and economic focused  projects.

The Suburban Court of Auditors and the Court of Auditors also examined individually and later  in cooperation with the municipality of Almere the recommendations of  previous evaluations, which for example included tighter control mechanisms.

But despite all this, the earmarked money is still  on the shelf "somewhere". Originally the Province of Flevoland and Almere agreed  that EUR 100 million would be made available in three tranches.  This has now shrunk to around EURO 89 million.

Once these funds are released it will require to have hands-on projects available which can be put into immediate action. Unfortunately these projects are still on the drawing board and don't seem to have been thought through in any detail yet.

Almere=Digest .