Surprise 12.3-million-euro addition to the city of Tartu’s budget

Thanks to a surprisingly generous amount of state support, Tartu will be able to restart some dormant projects.

Tartu’s local government submitted a draft supplementary budget proposal to the city council. Thanks to a surprising and until recently undetermined amount of state support to be granted to the city, the government has its hands on an additional 12.3 million euros to spend on education, infrastructure and other important local projects. State support amounts to around 5 million of the total and the other 7.3 million are meant to be generated by tapping into the city’s leftover liquid assets from 2018. According to the city’s mayor, Urmas Klaas, the additional funding will help the city realise some very important, but unfortunately dormant projects, that have been put aside due to budgetary constraints.

The field of education is the main beneficiary of the additional funds. 6 million euros are to be spent on different initiatives – such as the modernisation of kindergartens and the repair and upkeep of schools. Large amounts of the additional funding will be directed to reconstruction of streets in the city, construction of sidewalks and planning of new intersections between previously unconnected parts of the city.

With the new additions to Tartu’s finances, the city’s 2019 budget total amounts to 204.4 million euros.