Will cut 55 man-years in 2024: – We will be forced to make employees redundant

– I am very worried. We are missing a lot of expertise. And I am not sure if we will be able to maintain proper operations.

County municipality director Toril Hovdenak is impressed by the seriousness. The economic situation has become very demanding. And the politicians have said no to several of her proposals to gain control over spending.

The majority says no to increasing the ticket price on the ferries. They will also spend NOK 50 million extra on asphalting county roads. And it is out of the question to increase the ticket price on buses and speedboats by 20 per cent.

And the politicians agree to protect the secondary schools from further cuts.

Thus, the bottle spout is pointing at the administration. This is where the cut comes in. Around 55 man-years will disappear in 2024. It is brutal. And you can’t do that without having to fire people.

– We will be forced to make employees redundant. We cannot do without dismissals, says the county director.

At bottom level in the country

Møre and Romsdal county council is in danger of ending up on Robek list if necessary cuts are not carried out. Ending up there means that you no longer have control over your own finances.

In several areas, Møre og Romsdal county council is at a bottom level in the country.

They have by far the highest loan debt among all the county municipalities in the country. In fact, it is almost twice as high as the average, figures from Statistics Norway show. And because interest rates have increased sharply in recent years, the debt is becoming difficult to bear.

Møre og Romsdal also has the lowest net operating result among the county municipalities in the country, and is also the county municipality that has spent the least amount of money on disposition fund.

If the fund goes to zero, you have no extra money to deposit if you were to go on a rampage.

Will not increase the ferry ticket

More money is used for ferry operations in Møre and Romsdal than what the State believes is needed. This has been agreed upon for many years. Attempts to get more money out of the state for the ferry operation have not been successful.

And ferries quickly become a burning issue. The county council director will increase by two rate zones. But that is completely out of the question, says Frank Sve.

– We do what we have chosen to do. We do not increase ferry prices. We do not want to make everyday life more expensive for most people. And we will spend an extra NOK 50 million on county roads. It is irresponsible not to do so.

Swearing in church

Many of the secondary schools are in a tight spot. They themselves have to cover the extra consumption they had in 2023. And they will feel the effects of the one percent cut that the county director proposed in his proposal

But the schools are shielded in the politicians’ priorities. Now more people are advocating for greater action. They no longer have any faith that cheese grater cuts from year to year will have any effect.

– I think we are forced to look at the school structure. We have continued with percentage cuts for many years without the situation getting any better, said Line Hoem (Ap) during the debate.

Cutting the school structure means that there will be fewer schools. It is not popular. But also Hans Kjetil Knutsen (Cross-political list for Sunnmøre) is open to doing something about the school structure in the county.

– We are forced to think more long-term than we do now. We can’t go on with this fiddling any longer. This is perhaps cursing in church. But we have to look at the structures. This also applies to secondary schools.

Imbalance in operations

But now it’s about getting your head above water in 2024. It will be demanding. Møre and Romsdal county council will most likely run into a deficit in 2024.

And county council director Toril Hovdenak says that the decisions made by the politicians do not affect the balance of the county council’s operations.

– These cuts are used to reallocate money to other purposes. We still have a large imbalance in our operations.