Tallinn wants more funding for education budget, snow clearing

Tallinn's coalition is drafting a supplementary budget worth more than €10 million to direct more funding to the transition to Estonian-language education and to organize snow removal.
Mayor Jevgeni Ossinovski (SDE) said the exact amount is not yet known.
"Our aim is to keep the total size of the budget the same, that is, we are certainly not going to increase the burden of borrowing with this supplementary budget, but we are certainly going to give up certain things that are not so necessary to direct resources primarily to education, but also to several other areas," he said.
Deputy Mayor Aleksei Jašin (Eesti 200) said it is important to support schools and kindergartens that are transitioning this year. It should be clear by Friday how much schools' wage funds can rise.
"It is up to the education manager to see what the situation is on the ground and where it is most important to direct it. Whether it is creating a new post, paying additional salaries to existing teachers or retaining support staff on higher salaries," said Jašin.
The coalition also wants money to organize better-quality snow removal next winter. "It is fair to say that we will not be able to exempt all property owners from snow clearance next winter," Ossinovski said.
Former Mayor Mihhail Kõlvart (Center) believes it is too early to draw up an additional budget as the scale of cuts planned by the state is not yet known.
"Increasing operating costs in such a situation is, to put it mildly, unwise. All the more so because in the field of education, as I understand it, the new municipal government wants to take on additional responsibilities that should really be covered by the state," Kõlvart said.
The city government wants to adopt the supplementary budget before the summer vacation.
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Editor: Mari Peegel, Helen Wright
Source: Aktuaalne kaamera