Amsterdam is filling reserves: 2023 closed with 122 million euros more income than expenditure

Amsterdam ended the financial year 2023 on a positive note. The city had 122.1 million euros more income than it spent. All that money goes to the general reserve, which was depleted due to the corona crisis. Alderman for Finance Hester van Buren announced this today in the 2023 Annual Report.

Amsterdam had 8.1 billion euros in income last year. Most of the money came from the municipal fund: the government’s payment to the city (three billion). On the other hand, there was expenditure: almost eight billion euros, of which, for example, 300 million went to education.

Municipal Fund

According to councilor Van Buren, there is a surplus because, among other things, 150 million euros more than budgeted came in through the municipal fund. Tourists also earned considerably more money thanks to the tourist tax: 100 million euros. Furthermore, homeowners in the city contributed to the positive balance: the property tax brought sixty million euros more into the treasury.

The councilor remains concerned about the city’s financial housekeeping. She speaks of an unpredictable benefit from the government. “This money (the 122 million euros, ed.) will go to the general reserve so that we can use it in the coming years if government revenues decrease,” says Van Buren.

By this she refers to the ‘ravine’: the city’s budget will no longer be feasible from 2026 onwards because less money will come from the government. It is still uncertain whether a solution will come from The Hague. We are waiting for the cabinet formation.

Corona

The surplus – the 122 million euros – will therefore go entirely to the city’s general reserve, which was significantly depleted due to corona. In 2019, there was still almost 350 million euros in the reserve, which dropped to just under eighty million euros in 2021: the peak of the corona crisis. For example, entrepreneurs did not have to pay advertising and terrace taxes in 2020 and 2021.

In mid-May, Hester van Buren will present the city’s Spring Memorandum, which will make more clear about Amsterdam’s financial picture for 2024.