From the 2026 budget audit
5 billion Ft for urban civil groups — chosen by whom, exactly?
The Urban Civil Fund routes 5,000 million Ft to city-based civil organisations selected by the same discretionary mechanism as the larger civil-support pool — a geographic variant of the same rent-generating structure.
About 1,254 Ft per taxpayer per year — for organisations urban officeholders have selected, through a fund that runs parallel to the national civil-grant pool.
What you see — and what you don't
The seen: urban civil organisations receiving grants from a dedicated urban fund — community groups, local associations, civic initiatives in Hungarian cities. The unseen: the urban wage-earner whose tax funds organisations city officials selected, instead of organisations the worker would choose through the 1% SZJA designation already available to them.
Objection
"Urban civil society has specific needs that the national fund doesn't address — a dedicated urban fund fills a genuine gap."
Answer
A civil organisation funded by a dedicated urban pool is not more civil than one funded by the national pool — it is more dependent on staying selected by urban officeholders rather than national ones. The mechanism is identical: an involuntary transfer to politically-selected recipients, replacing what voluntary membership and the 1% designation would allocate. The gap the fund fills is the gap between what urban organisations could raise voluntarily and what the state offers to give them.
Share if you think civil organisations should be funded by the citizens who value them, not by city officials.
The analyst's verdict
Urban Civil Fund
Rationale
A geographically-targeted variant of the civil-grant mechanism — a discretionary pool for urban civil organisations. The analysis is the same as for the main civil-support line: the state selects the recipients, the recipients depend on staying selected, and the voluntary alternatives (membership, donations, the 1% SZJA channel) remain fully available. Immediate Cut.
Transition mechanism
Eliminate in one cycle.
Affected groups
Urban civil organisations currently funded; no accrued entitlement.
Free Society Institute
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