The government will give 2 billion more to “poor” municipalities

More of the tax money must be taken from the rich and given to poor municipalities. This means that Oslo gets less money to route with.

– The municipalities that have low tax revenues will get something more than before, says Municipal and District Minister Erling Sande (Sp) to NRK.

The municipal bill will be presented on Tuesday 14 May, but now the Center Party and the Labor Party are coming forward with some of the main points of a new system:

* The municipalities that are below the national average will receive almost 2 billion more from the tax revenue.

* Poor municipalities will receive tax revenues corresponding to at least 95 per cent of the national average after equalization. Today, the proportion is approximately 93 per cent.

In Oslo, the city council reacts and points out that they already pay NOK 8 billion to other municipalities.

– A large part of the tax equalization comes from Oslo, and that is fair, but the limit has been reached. Oslo is not a rich municipality. Oslo has major challenges with living conditions and poverty, says finance councilor Hallstein Bjercke (V).

But Ap insists that this is not a city-country discussion.

– For us, it has been important to do something about the tax challenges. There are both small and very large fiscally weak municipalities in Norway. We are now helping municipalities such as Sarpsborg, Eidskog and Skien, says Lene Vågslid, head of the Storting’s municipal committee (Ap).