In a current financial scandal in Bruck an der Mur, the opposition parties are demanding a comprehensive investigation into the city's financial affairs. Recently, SPÖ mayor Andrea Winkelmeier imposed a budget freeze due to the city's poor financial situation. Without countermeasures, no loans or interest could be serviced in the future. In order to shed light on the matter, all opposition parties, including the ÖVP, have supported a request for an audit by the State Audit Office.
The opposition parties in the state parliament have now also called for comprehensive clarification of the budgetary developments in Bruck an der Mur and have announced a motion in the upcoming state parliament session. Together they want to clarify the exact circumstances that led to the current financial situation. A representative of the FPÖ stressed that these developments are not surprising, as the city had been aware of financial difficulties for some time. It is now important to ensure comprehensive transparency and to provide the citizens of Bruck with maximum clarification.
The Green Party's spokesman for the audit is also calling for a detailed investigation into the financial situation in Bruck. He stresses that it is important to create complete transparency about how the financial problems came about. According to the Green Party spokesman, the internal quarrels and power games of the Bruck SPÖ have led to the neglect of commercial due diligence obligations for the city's budget. He assumes that the government factions in the state parliament will support the request for an audit by the state audit office in order to end the intolerable conditions in Bruck and avert further damage to the city.
Werner Murgg, a member of the KPÖ state parliament, also commented on the case and stressed that the municipality of Bruck has been in planning chaos for some time and that priorities have been set incorrectly. There is hope that all parties will agree to an audit by the Court of Auditors and that the state government and the federal government will take action, as more and more municipalities are getting into financial difficulties.
NEOS control spokesman Niko Swatek is calling for a full audit of the State Audit Office. He stresses that politicians should handle taxpayers' money just as responsibly as their own. This obviously did not happen in Bruck, as the precarious budget situation did not arise suddenly. The audit of the State Audit Office is therefore important in order to stabilize the city financially as quickly as possible and to find out how long the red city government knew about the imbalance and whether something was possibly being covered up.
It now remains to be seen how the governing parties in the state parliament will deal with the request for an audit by the State Audit Office and what results the investigation into Bruck an der Mur's financial affairs will bring to light.
Source: www.ots.at
Source: die-nachrichten.at
