Voting for Tallinn's participatory budget has started today, with everyone in Tallinn aged 14 or over able to vote for up to two ideas of their choice in their neighborhood.
The Tallinn City Government has submitted to the City Council a 2023 city budget with a total amount of 1.14 billion euros, which is 66.5 million or 6.2% more than the 2022 budget. The focus of next year’s budget will be on social security, with most of the investment going into roads, streets and education.
Of the total operating expenditure in Tallinn's 2023 budget, social welfare and health will account for 10.9 percent, or €97.7 million. The main objective is to ensure the availability of needs-based social welfare services, the well-being of families with children, the elderly and people with special needs, and to assist citizens in difficulty. More consideration will be brought to mental health care.
Tallinn's 2023 budget includes bridge funding through Tallinn Industrial Parks to start construction of the Tallinn Film Wonderland. In the area of entrepreneurship, attention will also be paid to promoting Tallinn as an attractive tourist destination, supporting small businesses and green innovation. Operational expenditure is planned to be €2.6 million.
The Tallinn City Government decided at today's meeting to establish the Tallinn Hospital Development Foundation, which will coordinate the construction and development of the hospital's medical campus.
Tallinn has started to improve the ventilation systems in all municipal school buildings where needed. This year, the city has earmarked €1.5 million for the improvements.
The architectural competition for the extension of Tallinna Reaalkool – Tallinn Secondary School of Science – has been won by an Estonian architecture office Molumba with the design R². Construction is scheduled to start in 2024.
A home doctor pilot project continues in Tallinn to ensure that children with health emergencies receive medical care at the weekend. Almost 270 home visits have been made this year. Home visits will be temporarily suspended for the summer months before resuming in September.
Last March, Tallinn introduced the first day sick leave benefit as a measure of limiting the spread of coronavirus and encouraging people with illness symptoms to stay home from work at once. This benefit will be applicable for sick leaves initiated until 31 May 2022.