The matter summed up: Moskenes municipality, with less than 1,000 inhabitants, has had poor finances for years and has an accumulated excess consumption of around NOK 140 million. The municipality has seven weak, five medium and no good subject areas, and lacks key personnel within finance. Social researcher Geir Vinsand says that Moskenes has too many tasks in relation to its resources, and that the state has a heavy responsibility for this. The municipality has over 5,000 statutory tasks, and Vinsand proposes a national scheme for debt restructuring. Moskenes has an overdraft with a limit of NOK 120 million, and has used NOK 90 million from this credit. The municipality has tried to probe municipal mergers, but has so much debt that no municipalities have said they are willing. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAi. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. – What they need right now is financial resources, says the parliamentary representative for Nordland, Mona Fagerås in SV. Fattige Moskenes has been on the Robek list for 12 years. Now they are threatening to “bankrupt” themselves if they don’t get help. The municipality with less than 1,000 inhabitants has had poor finances for years. The forecast for 2023 shows that they have an accumulated additional consumption of around NOK 140 million. – It is a municipality in crisis and about to go bankrupt. And I understand that the state administrator does not see immediate solutions either. Then the municipal minister has to step in, says Fagerås. No good subject areas An interdisciplinary assessment of the tiny municipality was carried out in September last year, and early in February the result came: The municipality has seven weak, five medium and no good subject areas. In addition, they lack a number of employees, and are, among other things, without a financial manager and a technical manager. – They lack key personnel within finance, said state administrator Tom Cato Karlsen to the municipal council last week. Vågan municipality has helped Moskenes in 2023 and Vestvågøy will help them in 2024, but these municipalities are also struggling. Vågan announced a little while ago that they have an additional consumption of NOK 75 million. State administrator Tom Cato Karlsen says they use enormous amounts of resources at Moskenes municipality. Photo: Vilde Bratland Eristad / news It’s not just the surrounding municipalities that help Moskenes. According to the State Administrator, they use enormous amounts of resources in the municipality. – I have with me four pieces from the State Administrator and we work more or less with Moskenes. At the same time, we have 40 other municipalities to look after. The state administrator receives around NOK 70 million in discretionary funds each year, which is to be distributed among 41 municipalities in Nordland. The mosques receive the lion’s share of these funds. – What more can the State Administrator do to help the municipality? – I think that if we were to increase our efforts, the next step would be to move our office out to Moskenes and sit together with the municipality, says Karlsen to news. – The state has overloaded the municipality Community researcher Geir Vinsand in NIVI Analysis says that the fundamental challenge for Moskenes is that the municipality has too many tasks in relation to its resources. – That is the fundamental problem. It is the Storting that adopts the division of tasks in Norway, and which decides that Moskenes municipality must solve such heavy welfare tasks with such few resources, says Vinsand. According to him, the state has a heavy responsibility for Moskenes having too many statutory tasks in relation to local resources. Social researcher, Geir Vinsand in NIVI Analysis says we must have a national scheme for debt restructuring, given a new start that is sustainable in the long term. Photo: Lars Tore Endresen / news – It’s a total gibberish of a distribution of tasks. The municipality has over 5,000 statutory tasks, according to the mayor. – Does that mean that the state must pay out to keep the municipality alive, whatever the cost? – No, the state should not just cash out, but we must have a national scheme for debt restructuring, given a new start that is sustainable in the long term. Several municipalities can end up in the same situation. He says the difference between Moskenes and other “poor” municipalities is that they have come further in the Lofoten municipality. The imbalance has become greater over time. He believes this should have been addressed earlier. – We should have had a municipal scheme where the State Administrator and others had had stronger tools to enter earlier in that type of municipality. We will have a long series of municipalities that will be in the same situation in a short time. Moskenes municipality receives the lion’s share of the 70 million kroner that the state administrator must distribute each year in discretionary funds. Photo: Vilde Bratland Erikstad / news – I know of several municipalities that are in a similarly critical situation in that they cannot provide equal welfare services and that have a fundamental failure of legal certainty within the municipality. Moskenes is one of many small municipalities that are struggling. Vinsand sees only two solutions for Moskenes in the long term. Either a municipal merger in parts of or all of Lofoten, or stronger municipal cooperation. Some other solutions do not exist, according to him. – It is embarrassing for the entire municipal sector that we should have such a great municipality that cannot manage its own tasks. Cannot adopt payment recommendation State Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government and District Affairs, Ole Gustav Narud (Sp) understands that Moskenes is in a difficult situation. – We will try to help the municipality as best we can. We had a meeting with the municipality in November and will have another meeting during the spring. At the same time, Narud believes that it is important to be aware that the municipality itself has a responsibility to create balance in its own economy. State Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government and District Affairs, Ole Gustav Narud (Sp) understands that Moskenes is in a difficult situation. Photo: Kambiz Zakaria / news – There, the new municipal board has adopted a balanced budget. Now it is time to implement the budget that the municipal council has adopted. He believes that Moskenes cannot adopt a payment proposal. – Not as long as Moskenes has the funds to pay. The municipality has an overdraft facility and is therefore able to pay. “Kassakreditt” of 120 million He is absolutely right about that, says mayor of Moskenes Hanna Sverdrup. – As long as we are granted additional overdrafts to finance operations, we cannot adopt a payment proposal. She shares the opinion of both state administrator Tom Cato Karlsen and social researcher Vinsand that the municipality has far too many tasks. – It is part of the fact that we have tried to save money by cutting back on administration and that there have been too many tasks for too few people. Hanna Sverdrup is mayor of the Community List in Moskenes. Photo: Vilde Bratland Erikstad / news Firefighting has gone beyond the ability to create an orderly system with procedures and routines, says the mayor. – We have to build up the foundations of the town hall. As of today, the municipality has an overdraft with a limit of NOK 120 million. The municipality has used NOK 90 million from the overdraft, and these NOK 90 have been accrued since 2012, says Sverdrup. An overdraft is something that is taken up because it is not allowed to take up long-term debt to pay operating costs, and he goes to pay overspending on operations. In simpler terms, you can imagine that you are sitting in a restaurant and paying with a credit card, even though you know that you cannot pay the credit card bill. Overdraft explained Overdraft, or “overdraft” as it is also known as, is bank credit that gives the customer the right to borrow up to a set amount as needed. For the permitted loan amount, an account will be opened that the customer can draw on. Amounts collected and direct deposits are credited to the account, so that the amount withdrawn can change from day to day. Overdraft is not the debt itself. In this context, an overdraft actually means that you pay for overspending with money you don’t have. Nobody wants to join forces with Moskenes Sverdrup says they will now enter into a dialogue with the ministry to see what possibilities exist. In the previous term, the municipality had a municipal council resolution that they should probe municipal mergers. But the municipality has so much debt that no municipality said it was willing. – Do you think it could be a solution if other municipalities also wanted it? – Yes, but then you have to have things in place. Because they can’t take over something when you don’t know what’s there. One must clean up anyway and get a structure, the same as what will happen to the Mosques.
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