Breaking from the agreement with the government on a municipal tax freeze, 26 councils are raising their taxes in 2011 to bolster their ailing economies, reports Politiken newspaper.
Ringkøbing-Skjern was the first council to announce it would bypass the agreement, doing so last week. Since then, 25 others have followed suit.
According to city council umbrella organisation Local Government Denmark (KL), the hikes will bring in a total of 875 million kroner in extra tax income. That figure is 600,000 kroner more than the limits placed on the councils via the government agreement.
The consequence of breaking the agreement is that 75 kroner out of every 100 kroner in extra income from the tax increases goes to the state.
Many of the councils are forced to break the agreement due to over-budgeting. The latest figures show that councils are collectively over-budget by around 2 billion kroner in all.
KL and council mayors will now begin a new round of talks aimed at finalising city budgets for next year by 15 October.
The Copenhagen Post
