Zoetermeer closes budget with its reserve
The College of Mayor and Aldermen has presented the 2025 budget to the City Council. A budget that, without a supplement from its own resources, shows a deficit of over 10 million euros. Alderman Jan Iedema of Finance foresees 2025 as a year in which firm choices will have to be made with the city council in order to structurally balance the budget in the coming years. "We have a healthy household book in Zoetermeer, which has allowed us to supplement our reserves for this time. Of course, we cannot continue to do that for years to come."
The college of Zoetermeer wants to follow through on earlier decisions. The municipality is facing major challenges related to health, living and working environment, mobility, climate and energy transition. The Zoetermeer Spatial Strategy provides an important direction. The municipal executive committee will continue to invest in improving the recycling policy, future-proof youth welfare and the physical accessibility of the city. With the Healthy City program, the college has an investment agenda to strengthen the social basis of Zoetermeerders through sports, exercise and prevention.
Zoetermeer's college feels abandoned by the state, Iedema argues. "Until 2025, municipalities were still financed with a percentage of government spending. Every spring, therefore, the approximate amount of the allowance for the following year was clear. We can budget on that. How this benefit will be structured from 2027 is still extremely uncertain. What is clear, however, is that the income from the state will plummet drastically in 2026." Iedema warned earlier about this so-called ravine year. The Zoetermeer City Council is taking a year to find a good balance between ambitions and feasibility. The first step we have been able to take from the college is to take all the air out of the budget by budgeting more tightly and taking measures to make the increasing costs on youth care manageable.
With the uncertainty of government revenues, the challenges facing Zoetermeer are greater than ever. On the one hand, the city government wants to be able to offer its residents a stable and progressive future. On the other hand, the world is changing rapidly. Examples are demographic shifts, technological developments and the growing pressure on sustainability and the environment. Challenges that Zoetermeer not only wants to face but also turn into opportunities for the future.
The college considers the creation of a safe, inclusive and livable city of great importance and wants to build a city where everyone has the opportunity to develop. Alderman Iedema emphasizes that Zoetermeer is a city with a strong identity and a vibrant community. "Together we make the city and together we have to face the challenges. When we properly align our priorities with our Future Vision for 2040, this includes Zoetermeer investing in neighborhoods, facilities and infrastructure." At the same time, the college wants to be able to continue to respond to future needs of Households with a WOZ value of €300,000 will pay €367 in Zoetermeer in 2025 in OZB and €363 in waste disposal charges (single-person households €123).
In the Perspective Memorandum 2025, the City Council set frameworks for the Program Budget earlier this year. The Program Budget provides a clear and detailed overview of financial frameworks, policy objectives and the strategic direction in which Zoetermeer is developing. The City Council will meet Monday, November 11, to discuss the Program Budget 2025.