Steven N.
The government passed a law last month to raise the salaries of Hungarian mayors and Assembly chairs by an average of 30% as of January 1, but at that time the government had not allocated any extra funds to cover the increase. This means that the localities would have to manage the added costs to their budgets through their own resources.
The latest Official Gazette, however, now specifies that towns with a population under 5,000 will receive extra subsidies from the central budget to cover these salary increases. According to the Gazette, the subsidies will be the following:
- For settlements up to 500 people – 3.4 million Ft. (US $10,877)
- For settlements between 501-1,500 inhabitants – 3.9 million Ft. ($12,477)
- For settlements between 1,501-2,000 inhabitants – 3.3 million Ft. ($10,558)
- For settlements between 2,001-5,000 inhabitants – 3.6 million Ft. ($11,517)
These amounts apply to full-time mayors, otherwise about half of the subsidies will be provided. The money will be received by the municipalities in a lump sum by February 15 and must be used by December 31.
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