The liberal mayor of Temesvár/Timișoara is rallying locals to demand higher returns from the central budget. Romania has a system whereby state dues collected by the counties are integrally transferred to the central budget and each year the finance ministry decides on the return rates based on development needs and other criteria.
Temes/Timiș county is the third highest contributor to the central budget after the capital Bucharest and Kolozsvár/Cluj-Napoca. It usually gets a return of under 50% while poorer counties in northeastern Moldova often receive more than what they contribute. For next year, the finance ministry plans to give the county 43%. Robu – who often polls citizen via Facebook on various issues, has asked them whether they are satisfied with the planned return or would be willing to rally for a higher – Robu asks 70% – one.
As you can see above, 1,600 people responded to the poll, 94% of whom are willing to rally for a higher budget return.
“I understand that a country needs to have solidarity, social cohesion, balanced development – these are all principles of the European Union – so I am not asking for all of the city’s money to remain here. But 30% for solidarity, social cohesion and balanced development is sufficient. We are also in need of modernization and development in order to remain the engine of Romanian society”, Robu wrote on his Facebook page.
