The current report of the State Audit Office (LRH) again shows how carefree the Upper Austria. State government deals with tax money. Whether questionable property sales, overpriced rents or a control that does not deserve this name – there is a lack of transparency at all corners and ends.
Control that is not: state government supervises itself
Landes-Immobilien GmbH (LIG), which manages properties with millions of taxpayers, does not have a real supervisory board, but only an “advisory board” that consists of the same politicians who decide on these business. The LRH therefore recommends a fundamental reform.
Lab. Manuel Herbartner, MFG-Oörbuby: “A system of own control in which the state government watches over itself is non -transparent. There is no real control here, while public million are managed at the same time. Such structures are a license for waste.“
Property sold far below value
A particularly brazen case: the former agricultural vocational and technical school in Katsdorf was sold to the municipality for 750,000 euros below the market value. The LRH criticizes that demolition costs have been included twice and that a recovery of funding has not even been checked.
Lab. Manuel Herbartner, MFG-Oörbuby: “It looks like a political pleasure deal when a municipality receives a property far below market value. If a private entrepreneur sells his property below value, it is his thing. If a government does this with tax money, it is a scandal. Who takes responsibility here?“
LDZ drawing: haphazard, expensive and criticized for years
The LRH was already criticized by the country’s creation into the state service center (LDZ). Now the 20-year dismissal would have expired, but the government missed it to develop an alternative. In a written request to Governor Stelzer, the MFG asked how high the rent and operating costs for the LDZ are: around 7 million euros are paid annually -to a subsidiary of the ÖVP -related Raiffeisenlandsbank -there are up to 1.5 million Euro operating costs. The private landlord can lean back in a relaxed manner – the country remains in the cost trap and loses every negotiating position.
LAbg. Joachim Aigner, MFG-OÖ Landeskuntspartei chairman: “While citizens are increasingly being burdened, the country continues to spend millions for expensive rents. The LRH has been criticizing this one since 2006 – but the state government remains standalless. Instead of permanently driving the country into the dependency of a private landlord, a sustainable, independent solution would have had to be created.“
The MFG calls for an end to friendship and transparent disclosure of all financial decisions. The practice of steering tax money into questionable deals and non -transparent structures must be ended. Clear rules and control mechanisms are needed to ensure that public funds are used for the benefit of the citizens and not to enrich political networks.
In order to get closer to this goal, the MFG starts the “Politics of the New Time” process. Together with citizens, experts and interested parties, new political structures are to be developed that enable real citizen participation and reduce party political dependencies.
In an event series with workshops and online discussions, alternatives to the existing party rule are developed. The Upper Austria. Youth Landtag has proven that politics can work even without a faction – now it is important to think about these findings and formulate specific reform proposals. More on this in our relevant press release: https://www.mfg-oe.at/jugendlandtag-zeigt-es-braucht-eine-politik-der-neuen-zeit/