From the 2026 budget audit
One Budapest district's park development: 100 million Ft, in the national budget, by name.
A named capital grant to Budapest District XVI for public-space development around a park — a district whose own budget and the equal-terms formula grant exist precisely for this kind of municipal capital decision.
About 25 Ft per taxpayer — 100 million Ft total — for one district's park development, charged nationally rather than from the district's own budget that covers this class of spending everywhere else.
What you see — and what you don't
The seen: public-space improvements around the Kertvárosi Olimpikonok park in Budapest's 16th district. The unseen: the residents of districts, towns, and villages across Hungary — many with unmet public-space needs — who collectively fund a capital improvement for one named district allocated by political discretion.
Objection
"Budapest districts have diverse needs and unequal resources — national support for specific projects helps address those gaps."
Answer
The equal-terms formula grant exists to address unequal resources between municipalities; a named budget earmark for one specific district bypasses that formula in favour of a discretionary allocation. If District XVI's public-space priorities are genuine, they are funded from the district's own budget or the formula grant that applies to every district on equal terms — not from a national line that names one recipient and concentrates the benefit while spreading the cost nationally.
Share if you think national budget earmarks for one named district's park are not how public money should work.
The analyst's verdict
Support for the public-space developments connected to the Kertvaros Olympians' Park, Budapest District XVI
Rationale
A named capital grant to one Budapest district for public-space development around a named park. The same single-municipality earmark pattern as Cím 3.5–3.8. A district's public-space development, if its residents value it, is a municipal capital decision funded from the district's own budget or the equal-terms formula grant — not a discretionary national-budget earmark. Classified Immediate Cut.
Transition mechanism
Eliminate the earmark; the public-space development is funded from the district's own budget or the formula grant if the district prioritises it.
Affected groups
Budapest District XVI and the park development project; the national taxpayer base.
Free Society Institute
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