Robin van LonkhuijsenHigh water in the floodplains near the Waalbanddijk
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 10:04
The water board taxes will rise sharply next year, it appears research by RTL Nieuws. The boards want to raise rates to pass on inflation. Personnel and equipment have also become more expensive.
In several of the 21 water boards, they are going the extra mile to put their finances in order. This means that costs will rise by about 10 percent in many places.
None of the water boards want to use their own buffer to absorb the increased costs. That is why citizens, farmers, companies and owners of nature reserves can expect to pay the bill.
Due to administrative chaos, the Amstel, Gooi and Vecht water board is the leader with an expected increase of 35 percent. “That is a significant, but inevitable increase,” said the water board. “The main reasons are the high price increases, the sharply increased costs of performing our tasks, almost exhausted reserves and increased risks.” Converted, this amounts to an increase of more than one hundred euros per year.
Maintenance
Millions of euros are needed for maintenance throughout the Netherlands. The dikes in the country must be refurbished to protect us against rising sea levels. In addition, measures must be taken against the expected periods of drought. Purifying the sewage water is also urgently needed, because it has become heavily polluted in recent years due to, among other things, medicine residues.
It is not yet clear how high the taxes will be next year. Inflation is passed on in taxes and that inflation rate is not yet known. The Central Planning Bureau assumes 3 percent in the latest calculation.
Regional water authorities
The Netherlands has 21 water boards. Together with Rijkswaterstaat, the water boards are the water managers in the country.
The level of the taxes (water system levy, purification levy and pollution levy) is determined by the extent to which water users benefit from the water boards.
The taxes differ per water board. This is, for example, because one water board requires more maintenance than the other.
2023-07-21 08:04:31
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