At the Great People’s Meeting on news 1, the politicians were challenged on municipal finances in the fictitious municipality of Fjellvikdal, with 10,000 inhabitants. Here you can try it yourself! But first a bit of background: In Fjellvikdal, a number of residents have moved out, and many long to leave. Health services are declining, cultural services are quite absent. Schools and public buildings fall into disrepair. Surely a familiar situation for many municipalities in the district. As mayor, you have big visions for Fjellvikdal, and want to give the residents what they want and are entitled to. But to do that you need money, and now comes the question – should you introduce a property tax on cottages, homes and commercial property? Yes or no to property tax? The various political parties form a majority for property tax in Fjellvikdal. The money goes towards a new municipal building and renovation of the school. But – you still need money for nursing homes and cultural services. And now a major property developer is knocking on the door. They want to build cabins in the municipality. It provides income, partly because you have introduced property tax. The problem is that the cabins will be built where there is currently untouched nature. Do you want to open for cottage development? There will be a majority against, but since the largest parties are in favor, there will still be cabin construction. And for some cabins! They are gigantic, with hot tubs and heating cables in the driveway. It draws a lot of electricity, and from the outset you need energy. In Fjellvikdal there are good conditions for wind power. A company wants to develop a small wind farm where there are wind turbines from before, connected to a local industrial area, and with virtually no interference with nature. Do you want to open up wind power? But what you thought would slide smoothly through, still doesn’t. Now a public action is being formed against the wind turbines. The Facebook group “We who are against wind power in Fjellvikdal” has gained 1,200 members. Not everyone lives in the municipality, but many do. Do you now say yes or no to wind power? Now it turns out that the plans are changing. The developers will build bigger turbines, and more. In addition, some must be built on topsoil. But in the face of this opposition, the builders say that if they are not allowed to build with you, they will build in the neighboring municipality. Then they get activity and income instead of you. But a new idea arises: the municipality’s richest resident proposes to create a gondola that will attract tourists to the town. Not only that: she offers to pay for too much of it, and start a restaurant on top. Great views for tourists and permanent residents, and easy access to untouched nature in the mountains. But – the municipality must pay for operation and maintenance. Yes or no to the gondola? Many families in Fjellvikdal struggle to get the time to go up, they rush between collection and work. Now there is a proposal on the table that parents of young children who work in the public sector should be allowed to work less, but at full pay. Do you want to introduce a six-hour day for parents of young children? The school has been refurbished and the cabin people have taken over Fjellvikdal. But the elderly do not get the help they need, and the municipality has problems getting enough staff in the public home service. A private company, which will also make money from it, says they can contribute with professionals. Do you want to go private in the home service? Even if the home service is upgraded, you also need more nursing home places. You can expand the existing nursing homes all around, so that people can live in the immediate area. Or you can gather expertise and build a new, large nursing home in the center of the municipality close to other services. Do you want a nursing home in the city centre? Now we round off this fictional game. But there are many issues that the politicians in your municipality must decide on. Do you have more compassion for the politicians now? It may be that your local politicians think something different from what the nine who took part in the Great People’s Meeting did. You can find that out here:
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Participate in a dilemma exercise in Fjellvikdal municipality – news Troms and Finnmark
