Abl looks back

Trofaiach’s merger: “That really is a lot of money”

The possible merger of Söchau with Fürstenfeld means that municipal mergers are once again on everyone's lips. In 2013, Trofaiach was one of the first towns to merge with Gai and Hafning. What effect did that have?

It was one of the first municipal mergers in Styria, even before the major structural reform got underway in 2015: "Trofaiach new" was created on January 1, 2013, and the municipalities of Gai and Hafning were history. "In Trofaiach and Gai, we had more than 80 percent approval in the referendum, and it was also overwhelmingly in Hafning," recalls Mayor Mario Abl (SPÖ).

As a result, the town had grown to more than 10,000 inhabitants, which meant significantly more revenue shares. "Now, without the merger, we would have 1.8 million euros less per year. That really is a lot of money if you calculate it over ten years."

Ten citizens came in one month
In the first year, all three town halls were maintained, says Abl, but after there were only ten contacts a month at one location, the contact points in Gai and Hafning were closed. "Trofaiach was always the central location where people went to do their shopping. Now you also have to go to the town hall."

What lesson has Abl learned from the merger? "It's important that it happens voluntarily," says the mayor. "We reinvented ourselves back then. The merger must be seen as a joint, new project." Otherwise, the wrong impression would be created that a larger town is "swallowing up" smaller municipalities.