Budapest Mayor Karácsony declares solidarity levy illegal after court ruling

The Budapest Metropolitan Court (Fővárosi Ítélőtábla) issued a ruling that the solidarity contribution imposed on the capital is illegal, echoing a previous Supreme Court decision that the city had been unlawfully deprived of its own revenues. Mayor Karácsony Gergely said the national government re‑packaged the levy in a different legal form to circumvent the judgment and warned that the state has taken hundreds of billions of forints from Budapest, pushing the city toward a financial cliff.

Budapest’s treasury has already been subject to direct deductions, with 7.5 billion forints withdrawn in October and earlier levies totalling over 19 billion forints this year. The mayor called for negotiations with the government and highlighted the broader strain on municipal finances, including similar disputes in other towns such as Kecskemét, where the court likewise rejected a request to reduce the levy.

Karácsony also urged reforms of the city’s water‑fee system, arguing that unchanged rates since 2013 cannot fund necessary upgrades to the water network and that municipalities should regain the right to set water charges.