Municipal governments are creaking and groaning due to one-sided and limited task assignments

Municipal governments are struggling due to the limitations of their tasks. Where they used to have room to organise activities that strengthened their local community, they are now mainly limited to carrying out primary tasks. Due to the so-called "ravine year" in 2026, in which municipal income from the central government will fall sharply, local governments have less budget and policy space to spend on secondary tasks. This makes it increasingly difficult to support social initiatives that contribute to social cohesion and participation.

Impact on social cohesion

With the shift to stricter tasking, many of the “nice things” that municipalities used to be able to do disappear. Activities such as supporting events, setting up social projects and promoting citizen participation are the first to be jeopardised. This has direct consequences for the social cohesion within communities. Citizens will have fewer opportunities to get in touch with each other through municipal initiatives or to participate in social activities.

Being a coucil member is becoming less appealing

The austerity of municipal tasks also affects the role of council members. Where council members previously had free policy space to come up with their own ideas and set up innovative projects, their role is now shifting more towards that of implementers. They are increasingly seen as managers who have to carry out core tasks within the financial constraints. This makes civil service work less attractive for people with idealistic ambitions, while there is actually more demand for director managers with a background in cost savings and reorganisation.

Consequences for confidence in government

For the average citizen, this means further alienation from the (local) government. If citizens can only approach the municipality for practical matters and there is less interaction on a social level, citizens' involvement in municipal policy becomes increasingly less. This can harm trust in and connection with the local government in the long term. Research also shows that confidence in the government is declining. This situation does not help to regain this trust.