The final form of the draft law on administrative measures is to be finalised within the governing coalition, the project having already been 'adjusted,' Minister of Development Cseke Attila said on Wednesday.
'We have once again put into public consultation the legislative draft that was in consultation last year, throughout the entire year. Of course, it has been adjusted in line with the discussions we have had over time within the coalition. From the point of view of the Ministry of Development, we have been ready for this legislative project for quite some time. What remains is for the final form to be agreed within the coalition, after which we will enter the interministerial approval procedure and the government process, if there is a decision to that effect within the coalition,' Cseke Attila told Digi24 TV.
According to the minister, the claim that local taxes would be taken at central level into the central budget has been categorically dismissed.
'So, local taxes are revenues of local authorities and there is no question in 2026, and I believe in any year, because it runs counter to any principle of public finance, that local taxes, which are local revenues, should be taken into the central budget. (...) So, any local tax that is increased or reduced to the 2026 level, whatever that level may be, will not be taken by the Government. I am not aware of any such discussion having taken place. A discussion about the shares that will go to local authorities, shares of VAT, of tax and of income tax, is a different discussion that will take place in connection with the state budget law. And here I cannot give further details because, primarily, the initiator of the state budget law is the Ministry of Finance. We have not yet had exploratory discussions on this segment. These are two different tiers from the point of view of a local authority's revenues,' he explained.
Asked how a 10% reduction would be achieved in local administrations if this year there are no cuts either in spending or in the number of employees, the Minister of Development replied that, in fact, 'these are the two possible options,' adding that from 2027 a reduction in the number of posts will be mandatory.
Asked whether the estimate according to which 13,000 public sector posts are to be abolished, possibly by June 2026, is correct, Cseke Attila confirmed: 'From local public administration, yes, this is the estimate made on the basis of the data available last year.'
He stressed that the package sets out very clearly mandatory deadlines and that, if within this period the Local Council does not approve one of the two formulas, the County Directorate of Public Finance will suspend the allocation of shares from the state budget, with the final deadline being 1 June 2026.
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