PR Funding in 2014 Tallinn Budget Too High, Says Opposition
Head of IRL's Tallinn City Council faction Eerik-Niiles Kross said that the new budget will allocate 5 million euros to propaganda, including 3 million to Tallinn Television, which he called a "shockingly high" level.
The budget for the city's media services has remained at last year's level, but is close to the figure of six million euros going towards renovating and building schools and kindergartens, ETV reported on Wednesday.
Kross said that cuts in the municipal police budget are welcome, while the increase in road maintenance funding will need to be accompanied by a thorough study on the movement of people on the city's streets.
"The budget for the Municipal Police [Tallinn's separate police force] has been cut back, but not as much as we wanted in our election proposals, but it is positive. And yet the propaganda budget is at the same time still shockingly high," said Kross.
The city's budget for next year is 501 million euros, 3 percent more than the previous budget.