The draft budget was approved today by Prague’s deputies. The budget was criticized by the opposition, according to which it may include fees for sports, culture or housing policy. The opposition also initially criticized the accounts, which she said the city should invest.

At the end of last year, the council approved the budget of Prague for this year with revenues of 79.1 billion and will spend 89.15 billion crowns. During the year, revenues increased to approximately 86.24 billion and expenditures to 101.62 billion as of June 30. In 2020, the capital as a whole had a surplus of 8.9 billion crowns, which is about 5.8 billion less.

“Compared to this year, we expect an increase in revenues. In addition, increased state transfers are reflected in the resources, which are the primary means for salaries in schools and for the performance of state administration. The budget is a living organism, it will continue to change as we take into account developments every month. We also have a reserve for costs associated with rising inflation, “said Deputy Mayor Pavel Vyhnánek (Prague Sobě).

The most money in current expenditures will go to transport and education, in the first case 24.1 billion and in the second over 21 billion. About 3.3 billion will go to health and social care and about 2.7 billion to urban infrastructure. Compared to this year, current expenditures have increased, which is due to, for example, an increase in public transport expenditures of 1.5 billion, road maintenance costs increased by half a billion, more than 100 million means an increase in waste collection and the same amount will be added to social grants.

Also in capital expenditures, the most money is earmarked for transport, about 8.3 billion, one of the largest items is the construction of metro D from Pankrác to Písnice. In the city’s infrastructure, the city management plans to invest in the renewal of water supply and sewerage or bridge repairs. Another 750 million will go to the renovation of the Industrial Palace at the Exhibition Grounds. In education, 686 million crowns are expected to be invested in extensions and reconstructions of school buildings and another 120 million for the construction of a new primary school in Šeberov.

The largest chapters in revenues are tax revenues, namely 62.2 billion crowns. The second highest are the so-called transfers, ie money from the state, more than 19.84 billion crowns. Non-tax revenues will be 908.8 million.

Opposition representative Ivan Pilný (YES) criticized the allocated half a billion crowns for the renewal of urban furniture, incl. public transport shelters. “We are going for maintenance and we don’t know much about money. This budget certainly does not indicate that there will be any change, “he said.

According to her, the opposition also criticized the large amount that the city has in its accounts, which it should invest in. Vyhnánek rejected the criticism. According to him, the reason why the city accumulates funds is, among other things, that Prague has never received a guarantee from the state that it will help it with large investments.

The mayor of Prague 9 and the opposition representative Tomáš Portlík (ODS) said that the municipality forgot about the city district, when it did not include the increase in prices caused by inflation in their financing. Representative Stanislav Nekolný (YES) said that the city puts little money into sports, and the chairman of YES deputies Ondřej Prokop then criticized the procedure of discussing and beginning the allocation to the city’s housing policy. He called it unambitious. He called the cable car project from Podbaba to Bohnice absurd.

Coalition representative Jan Wolf (KDU-ČSL) criticized the low amount for culture. He proposed to increase, among other things, expenditures on cultural grants for culture. Opposition representative Lubomír Brož (YES) also joined Wolf. In the end, the amendment was not approved by the deputies.

The Deputy Mayor of Prague 4, Zdeněk Kovářík (ODS), also took part in the discussion. He criticized the city management for forgetting in the budget for the project to cover Spořilovská and criticized the care for the so-called communication greenery. Deputy Mayor Adam Scheinherr (Prague Sobě) said that it was not possible to work on Spořilovská until the state built part of the Prague ring road between D1 and D11.