Helsinki deputy mayors seek changes to Sazonov’s budget

Helsinki’s deputy mayors have not rejected Mayor Daniel Sazonov’s budget proposal outright, but say several issues still need to be negotiated, Yle reports. They want more action on long-term unemployment and additional funding for school meals, among other priorities.

Sazonov, of the National Coalition Party, presented the proposal on Monday. It calls for more funding for education and primary healthcare, while seeking to curb increases in HSL public transport fares. The proposal would keep tax rates unchanged.

Paavo Arhinmäki, the deputy mayor for culture and leisure and a member of the Left Alliance, said employment measures should have been more prominent. Helsinki currently has more than 50,000 unemployed jobseekers, including 25,000 long-term unemployed people, he said.

Arhinmäki said the city could consider employing people who have recently graduated from vocational colleges. He also suggested considering whether older people who have been unemployed for a long time could retire.

He wants more funding for school meals and is also considering offering breakfast to pupils more widely. “Some pupils do not eat a proper breakfast in the morning, and that affects their alertness,” he said. He also wants suburban libraries to open on Sundays.

Johanna Laisaari, the Social Democratic deputy mayor for the urban environment, said the budget should place more emphasis on equality and basic services. Like Arhinmäki, she wants more investment in employment, particularly support for long-term unemployed people.

“Long-term unemployment creates human challenges for Helsinki residents. It is also costly for the city when penalty payments arise,” Laisaari said.

Reetta Vanhanen, the Green deputy mayor for education, said she would put more funding into education. She said Sazonov’s proposal still includes direct cuts to day-care centres and schools, which she wants removed through negotiations.

Vanhanen also wants more funding to make the grounds of day-care centres and schools greener and more natural. The goal is included in the city strategy, she said, but has no funding. “There is a great deal of research evidence that increasing children’s contact with nature improves wellbeing and learning,” she said.

The main areas of investment in Sazonov’s budget proposal for next year are education and primary healthcare.