State forces municipality to make sweeping cuts
The college presents the 2025 - 2028 budget. Earlier, the college issued a firm profit warning in connection with the so-called ravine year. Starting in 2026, the state will apply a reduction of 2.5 billion euros to the municipal fund. For Heerlen, this means a financial challenge of tens of millions of euros. With such a deficit, it is impossible to spare all residents, parties and organizations. Unfortunately, the pain of the resulting cuts will be felt throughout the city. The budget will be discussed and adopted by the City Council on November 6 and 7.
However, the college is trying to minimize the impact of the cuts from 2026 and to distribute the inevitable pain in such a way that we continue to work on our most important goals. This means that as a result of national choices in Heerlen, we are forced to make choices we would not otherwise make.
Bearish package of cuts
Despite budget cuts, the need to solve problems, seize opportunities and continue to invest exists unabated in numerous places in our city. We want to keep the basics in order; the city must be and remain clean, whole and safe. In addition, Heerlen wants to remain a social city and unabated commitment to the Heerlen-North National Program. In recent years, with an eye to the future, substantial investments have been made throughout the city. In this, the college wants to stay the course, both in the center and in the neighborhoods. This includes the relocation of education to the center, the Roman Museum, greening and the restructuring of Hoensbroek Center. Heerlen also wants to take its responsibility by contributing to the national transition tasks in the areas of energy, climate and housing.
Since the looming budget deficit is structural, the college is looking for a balance between cuts and investments in the medium and long term. "It was a tough job to come up with a balanced package of cuts. We do not want the city to grind to a halt. Also in the future, the city must be an attractive place to live, work and stay. In addition, we want to spare the incomes of vulnerable people as much as possible, and have limited increases in housing costs. But with such a challenging budget, painful decisions are unavoidable. With this package, we hope to distribute the pain as much as possible," said Martin de Beer, alderman for finance.
Lobbying toward The Hague
Heerlen remains hopeful that the State will still correct its mistake. The lobby for this is still ongoing. Heerlen therefore supports the national campaign started by VNG (Association of Dutch Municipalities). De Beer: "the tasks and duties of the municipality of Heerlen are not in proportion to the money Heerlen receives from The Hague. This is unworkable and causes serious damage to the execution of our tasks. Moreover, one-time subsidies are not a sustainable solution. In Heerlen, we know that progress never comes naturally. That it sometimes requires rowing against the current and persevering with determination. Together with tens of thousands of Heerlen residents, entrepreneurs and organizations we put our shoulders under our beautiful city."