Municipal executive looking for huge budgetary savings

AMSTERDAM – The downloading of responsibilities from the central Dutch government onto the shoulders of the provinces and municipalities during previous decades may soon be followed by a slowing of the flow of funding now that the cabinet has embarked on a search for budget savings. The municipal executive of Amsterdam, already plagued by the horribly expensive North-South metro tunneling project, is itself searching for budgetary savings to the tune of 620 million euros. Finance portfolio holder Lodewijk Asscher of the Dutch Labour Party has already indicated that everything will be on the table, including staff reductions, sports, the arts and culture. Asscher plans to make recommendations to his outgoing council early next year, with final decisions to be made by the incoming council following next March’s municipal elections.