Tallinn’s supplementary budget brings an additional thousand trees to the cityscape

The Tallinn City Government submitted a draft of the third supplementary budget of 2023 to the city council. According to the draft, the city budget will increase by 46.5 million euros. Should the draft be adopted, the final budget for 2023 will be 1.18 billion euros.

Mayor Mihhail Kõlvart said the city will continue alleviating the socioeconomic uncertainty created by the crises of the previous years. At the same time, they will contribute to the development of the city. “For the betterment of the city environment, we are increasing the landscaping expenditure in the city budget by two million euros so we can add a thousand more trees to the city,” said Kõlvart. “For the first time, we will also be planting 300 larger trees in the city. That way we can alleviate the urban heat island effect. We are providing additional resources to differentiate the basic income of support specialists and coordinators working with students with special educational needs in educational establishments by up to 17% of their minimum salary – 1,749 euros.”

The supplementary budget will direct resources to support sports projects. “With this, we are contributing to the development of sports and an active lifestyle,” Kõlvart explained. “Tallinn has created a diverse and high-quality sports infrastructure. This allows us to host high-level international sporting events. The supplementary budget supports large events such as the FIBA Olympic Pre-Qualifiers, the CEV Champions League Finals, the European Disc Golf Championships and the Europe Triathlon Championships.”

The supplementary budget increases the city’s revenue by 41.7 million euros. At the same time, the City Treasury’s revenue will increase by 8.3 million euros, the own revenue of the city’s establishments by 9.1 million euros and the support received from the national budget and external financing by 24.3 million euros.

The city budget’s largest source of income – income tax – will increase by 5 million euros according to the specified prognosis. This is a result of the expected improved indicators in the labour market and employment. The revenue from advertising tax will increase by 100,000 euros and revenue from duties will increase by 20,000 euros. The expected own revenue of the city’s establishments will increase by 9.1 million euros. The own revenue of the Social Welfare and Health Care and Property Department will increase the most. This growth comes from the increased amount of services provided to the state and the Property Department’s increased rental income.

With the supplementary budget, the city’s expenditures for 2023 will increase by 41.1 million euros. The largest increases in expenditures are in the social welfare and education fields.

In the field of social welfare, the city is increasing expenditures for supporting people with psychological special needs through services providing welfare for disabled people and rehabilitation services.
Regarding elder care, the city plans to enact a long-term welfare reform using state resources granted from the support fund. In addition, the city has designated resources to assist people in paying for nursing home services for the elderly.

The city has provided resources to rebuild and furnish new offices for the administration of the Tallinn Mental Health Centre and for making acquisitions for the Käo Support Centre at Pae Centre. In the field of child welfare, the city has designated resources to purchase backpacks for children from low-income families, sports equipment for the Tallinn Centre for Children at Risk and decorations for the music therapy and physiotherapy rooms at Tallinn Children’s Home.

The city has designated additional resources to differentiate the main income of support specialists and study coordinators for students with educational special needs, whose pay is part of the city budget, by 17%. To cover this, the city has designated 850,000 euros in the budget. Tallinn has designated 205,000 euros for supplies, expenditures and rent payments for Hiiu School, which is being opened this September.

In the field of culture, the city is increasing the expenditures for the Literary Street Festival and the Birgitta Festival. The city has designated funds for the Estonian Council of Churches; in regards to conservation, Tallinn is supporting the continued restoration of the basement of St. Peter and St. Paul's Church, the restoration of St. Mary's Cathedral’s tower and the restoration of Tallinn Cathedral of the Transfiguration of Our Lord.

As for investment activities, Tallinn is mainly making specifications that depend on the results of the public procurements included in the total sum of the investees and the expenditure designated for 2023.