Since the Presidency Act of 1837, it has been a local responsibility to ensure that income and expenditure are linked. For the most part, the municipalities manage to manage the finances, but sometimes things go wrong and the local politicians need “a bodyguard” to make sure that everything doesn’t get out of hand. In the state’s administrative language, this means being seen on the “Robek list”, which means coming under state control with the annual budget, borrowing and long-term lease agreements. The Robek list reached a temporary peak in 2004 when a total of 118 Norwegian municipalities needed “supervision”. Since then, the relationship between operating level and revenue framework has improved, and in 2019 the number of municipalities with financial problems was down to 10. In recent years, there are nevertheless signs that the decline has stopped, and may be on the way back. This week, Høyanger became the twelfth municipality in the country to be seen under administration. The same number would be 15 if Træna, Kåfjord and Froland were not “released from captivity” earlier this summer. These municipalities are on the Robek list as of 29 August 2023 Åsnes Våler Stranda Rauma Fauske Lødingen Moskenes Tjeldsund Lavangen Porsanger Gamvik Høyanger A municipality that is registered in ROBEK will only be deregistered when it follows from the Municipal Act § 28-5. The government, Hydro and the wind power industry are trying to convince people in Høyanger that more power is the key to their future. Photo: Eirik Brekke (BT) Used NOK 32 million more than they had coverage for The main explanation for the financial disaster in Høyanger is a “hedging agreement” from 2021 to sell concession power at a fixed price instead of the market price. It was an expensive decision for the poor municipality. Last autumn, the power municipality in practice had to pay 42 øre for every kilowatt hour they sold. The result was a loss of around NOK 80 million and that the municipality spent NOK 31.9 million more than they had coverage for in 2022. This is an additional cost of 6 percent of the operating income, which is double what the Municipal Act allowed (3 percent). On Monday evening, the State Administrator in Vestland therefore took action and intervened with the municipality. The mayor of Høyanger, Petter Sortland (Ap), tells news that the municipality “wins in teams and loses in teams” and that they assumed that they had more time to get things in order. – You can’t guarantee that much in this life, but I thought we would have two years to clean up, he says. He points out that power revenues are still good, and that they have set aside money to clean up previous excesses. – So I think this Robek visit will be short-lived for us. We can have a chat again in July next year, then we will be out. Municipal director Ørjan Haram is equally optimistic: – I am confident that we will manage this. This is what State Administrator Nils Erling Yndesdal, municipal director at the State Administrator in Vestland, says – I hope and believe that the mayor is right that Høyanger municipality can quickly clean up previous violations and thus get off the Robek list. The first opportunity to be able to come out is when the State Administrator has sent over the audited accounts for 2023. Based on the review we have had of the budget this year and financial plans for all the municipalities in Vestland, we see that there are a number of municipalities that have a demanding financial situation . At the same time, there is no one other than Høyanger who is likely to get Robek status this year. In Vestland, we have had this development in the number of Robek municipalities (at the end of the year): 2019: 2, 2020: 3, 2021: 2, 2022: 0, and thus 2023: Truleg 1. The Municipal Act’s rules for registration in Robek is quite clear on this point. The state administrator has nevertheless considered whether it would be possible within the legislation to apply to the ministry for an exception. Our conclusion is that the situation in Høyanger is not within the scope of the ministry’s permission to include the municipality in the Robek register. KS director Helge Eide has “not registered any particular criticism” in the municipalities against the criteria for enrollment in Robek. – One reason for that could of course be that this applies to so few municipalities. But even when the number of Robek was clearly higher than now, there was no great noise about the system as such. Høyanger mayor Petter Sortland (Ap), who was previously a high-profile opponent of wind power, has characterized the dilemma as “a hellish dilemma”. Photo: Hallgeir Vågenes / Hallgeir Vagenes (VG) – A surprising and boring message Mayor candidate for Høgre, Hroar Holm Carlsen, calls the Robek visit a “surprising” and “boring” meeting. – Even if it is “bad luck” with the power hall that has led the municipality into this situation, this illustrates the urgent need to reverse the negative development in the population, he says. He adds: – And that the election campaign should not be about no to wind power. Hydro presented this winter an “urgent wind power project” in the mountain area between Høyanger and Sunnfjord, and with it put pressure on the industrial village. Historically, the aluminum works in Høyanger have been the cultural and economic hub of the village, around which everything revolves. ROBEK municipality The ROBEK register is a register of municipalities and county municipalities that are in financial imbalance or that have not adopted the financial plan, annual budget or annual accounts within the applicable deadlines. Municipalities and county municipalities in ROBEK are subject to state control with the annual budget, borrowing and long-term lease agreements. Municipalities and county municipalities in ROBEK must determine an action plan that ensures that the economy is brought into balance. The Labor Party mayor, who was previously a high-profile opponent of wind power, has stated that the plans saw him “in a hellish dilemma”: Access to more, own and reasonable power is a prerequisite for the cornerstone company’s further investment in the village – how can he say no? The mayor says to news that he shares the Høgre candidate’s assessment that the focus in the election campaign should be on future population numbers – and not on a categorical no to wind power. – We are the “Hydro Municipality” that is most dependent on Hydro’s activity.
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Several municipalities seen under administration – news Vestland
