On Nov. 2, the council gave final approval to the 2024 budget at a general meeting.

Like last year, the goals of the college agreement "For the love of our city" are the starting point. This means that the residents of Heerlen are central. We want young people to have a good future, the elderly not to be alone, people without work to have a job prospect and people to get the care they need. We also look to the future of Heerlen with a beautiful center and fine neighborhoods. We remain committed to Heerlen-North, neighborhood improvement, a fair transition to renewable energy, downtown development and job opportunities.

Because of things like rising interest rates, labor costs and inflation, we had to revisit all existing costs and budgets. So we came up with an ambitious but also achievable budget, where the cost of living does not increase much.

Four goals 

The college has set four major goals for the long term. In the short term, these goals will help with investments, but also if changes are needed in the future.

• Bottom Line: We want Heerlen to be safe, clean and tidy. We will invest in the living environment of residents, such as neighborhoods and districts. We will make the city greener, add quality and improve maintenance. We will also ensure that municipal services and finances are good and work together with residents, businesses and organizations, focusing on the neighborhoods.
• Security of existence and future for all: We want everyone in Heerlen to have a good future. Even if national policy changes, we want to help where it is needed. We have programs to catch up with Heerlen-North, to help people with housing and to keep energy affordable.
• Center Heerlen as a nice place: We want the center of Heerlen to be attractive for schools, businesses and people who want to live there. It should be a place where people like to be and where there is always something to do. We are going to add more greenery and provide water. We also want schools and businesses to locate in the center for a new and lively atmosphere.
• Translating transition tasks into Heerlen policy: We need to implement national changes in Heerlen. For example, changes to a more sustainable economy, climate adjustments and building more houses. For this we need enough knowledge, people and money. These changes should not be at the expense of the prosperity of Heerlen residents, but rather should help make the city better for everyone.

Uncertainty after 2026 

For 2024 and 2025, we have a budget that accounts for rising costs and inflation. But from 2026 we are concerned. Then municipalities will receive less money from the government to perform their tasks. That is why the budgets for 2026 and 2027 now show a deficit.

Finance Councilman Martin de Beer says, "We can implement the plans from the coalition agreement for the time being. But because we are increasingly dependent on government policy, we don't know what the future holds. We are dependent on the choices of the new cabinet. This makes it difficult to invest in our city and residents. But we also see opportunities to cooperate with the government and thus still invest."

After presenting the budget to the council, the college has seen some adjustments they want to make. These can be found in the so-called erratum. 

Read the full budget.