Plans by the City of Leuven to borrow up to €38 million after taking out loans totalling €80 million in Spring have aroused the ire of the opposition, which has termed the city’s financial policy “reckless and complacent.”
Pieterjan Vangerven, a councillor for the opposition Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie (N-VA) noted that the city's debt has risen to €255 million, up from €113 million at the end of 2020. “Now we are taking on a new tranche of €38 million in debt, while we do not know whether the €80 million from Spring has already been taken up, and what has happened to it,’ said Vangerven.
The opposition councillor was also unhappy that the issue was already before the city council, even though the city's multi-year plan will not be discussed until next month. “We have to decide on this, but there is no clarity about the other levers you can pull as a city to implement financial policy,” he said. “That's not kosher.”
Britt Huybrechts of the opposition Vlaams Belang was also critical. She called the policy “communist.”
“Leuven is accumulating debt. This is financially reckless and lazy behaviour,” she charged. “It's like Santa Claus doling out presents: the enthusiasm is great, but in the end it's always someone else who pays the bill.”
However, for Finance Alderman Thomas Van Oppens (Groen), it is “good governance” and “morally right” to take out additional loans.
“It would not be wise to save for thirty years first and only then invest,’ he countered on Monday evening. “We are doing this in order to be able to invest. That’s how a city can continue to move forward.”
