Márki-Zay introduced a steep price increase in Hódmezővásárhely for children's meals and care for the elderly.

The general assembly of Hódmezővásárhely decided on a significant increase in reimbursement fees for childcare and nursing home care, as well as parking fees, read the announcement published by MTI.

According to the decision of the representative body, from November 1

in Hódmezővásárhely, the reimbursement fees to be paid for children's meals will increase by about 27 percent. Kindergarten students have to pay HUF 1,090 per day, elementary school students HUF 1,240, and college students HUF 2,680 per day.

According to the proposal, next year the municipality's income from reimbursement fees will increase by a net of HUF 29 million.

The fee payable for nursing home care will also increase - by 18.75 percent - from November.

people living in the Kovács-Küry Home for the Elderly therefore have to pay HUF 5,700 per day instead of HUF 4,800.

The increase means an additional income of HUF 5 million per month for the institution. Péter Márki-Zay (MMM-Tiszta Vásárhelyért Egyesület) emphasized that the rate of increase in reimbursement fees remains far behind the pension increase.

The fees to be paid in the Retirement Housing Park are also rising: those who live there will have to pay HUF 570 per square meter instead of HUF 485 per square meter, and the transfer fee will increase from HUF 26,500 to HUF 31,165 per person. Depending on the size of the apartment, the increase per resident is thus between HUF 7,500 and HUF 9,000 per month. During the debate, the mayor announced that the general assembly of the next cycle will also have to decide on the increase of the rents of the social and market-based municipal apartments.

Parking fees will increase by 28 percent from January. The hourly fee will increase from HUF 250 to HUF 320, and the daily ticket will cost HUF 1,280 instead of HUF 1,000. According to the original proposal, parking fees would have been increased by 60 percent, but the proposal was not supported by the representatives present. The mayor announced that, according to the plans, a tender will be issued in the near future for the ten-year operation of the parking meters in the city, so that motorists can pay the fee with bank cards.

The Délmagyar news portal commented on the brutal changes as follows:

They blame the government and use the economic situation to justify the large increase in the price of local government services. However, the townspeople could see

during the campaign, Hódmezővásárhely spread the money with both hands to present Péter Márki-Zay in a good light in front of the townspeople and give him their votes.

The municipality led by Péter Márki-Zay carried out a series of investments in the period before and during the campaign, ones that were not necessary, such as the 50 million "budibüfé", the 20 million lighting of the town hall, or the axed Kossuth tér developments , just to let's mention a few.

The municipality financed a series of entertainment programs, where the mayor could promote himself to his heart's content with city money. Not to mention

just for the weekend before the election, they organized a five-day beer festival with star performers and free beer.

The first batch of black soup arrived a few days after the election was won. The general assembly decided to fire 8 employees of the town hall, and then at the last meeting before the summer break, four of the employees of the Tornyai János Museum and Public Culture Institute were fired.

Zsolt Benkő, the Fidesz municipal representative of the outgoing general assembly, said that for years it has been indicated that the city is moving in the wrong direction.

– We have indicated countless times that if the municipality takes over services, such as public catering, sooner or later it will lead to the service provider proposing a continuous price increase. That's why we protested, for example, against the outsourcing of public catering , said Zsolt Benkő. He added that when a city government can't get money, that's what happens.

– Péter Márki-Zay waited for the elections, pulled the strings in front of the population's noses, points backwards at the Fidesz leadership and the Orbán government, and plans brutal price increases to keep the city alive. This is a bad direction, we have indicated this several times in recent years in the general assembly, but we have always been voted down. This is probably just the beginning... - he predicted the foreseeable future.

Source: MTI/Délmagyar/Erika Kovács

Cover image: MTI/Szilárd Koszticsák