Tallinn Faces Financial Cutoff Over Missing Budget Strategy
Tallinn's city government is under fire from former mayor Jevgeni Ossinovski for illegally failing to produce a 2026-2029 budget strategy, a lapse that jeopardizes state income tax transfers and investment subsidies as the council reviews over €60 million in new spending.
- —Former Tallinn Mayor Jevgeni Ossinovski has formally requested explanations from the current city government regarding the failure to present a new budget strategy for 2026-2029, which he argues is a legal violation.
- —Ossinovski insists that the city council cannot properly evaluate the current year's budget, which includes over 60 million euros in new permanent expenses, without a long-term strategy.
- —Mayor Peeter Raudsepp acknowledges the delay but attributes it to the previous administration's inability to pass a strategy and states the new strategy will be presented in the spring.
- —Ossinovski warns that the absence of a budget strategy could lead to serious consequences, including the Ministry of Regional Affairs and Agriculture potentially suspending income tax transfers to Tallinn and withholding investment subsidies.
- —Raudsepp dismisses Ossinovski's warnings as attempts to scare citizens and emphasizes the complexity of the budget strategy document, which requires significant time to prepare.
Recap
This is not a simple administrative delay; it's a high-stakes political confrontation. The current administration is gambling that the central government will not enforce the severe financial penalties for the legal breach. The opposition is leveraging this failure to portray the new government as incompetent and fiscally irresponsible. The core risk is a miscalculation where political maneuvering triggers genuine economic consequences for the city, disrupting services and halting development projects.