The council decided on the financial balancing program in accordance with the proposal

Janakkala municipal council discussed at length on January 26 the financial balancing program; the meeting that began at 5:00 PM ended at about 9:45 PM. Much of the debate focused on the item in the balancing program concerning the closure of 2–4 small schools.

The speeches included proposed amendments, all of which were put to a vote.

In the first amendment the municipal executive’s proposal was opposed by a proposal that preparation for the closure of 2–4 small schools should not begin and that a diverse school network be reviewed as part of broader service network planning and property strategy planning.
The municipal executive’s base proposal won by 18–15 votes.
Numerous dissenting opinions were recorded regarding the decision.

The proposal that preparation for discontinuing the library bus should not begin and that the entirety of library services be reviewed in the service network planning also failed in the vote.

It was also proposed that measures to curb the costs of afternoon activities be considered as part of the service network study, which failed in the vote.

An amendment to add a public transport agreement to the consolidation programme without a monetary target likewise failed in the vote.

The fifth amendment, proposing development of the school day structure and school transport, also failed.

The council therefore decided, as proposed, that the annual savings of the financial balancing program will be realized with the measures in the meeting appendix, with a target of 0.5–1.0 million euros in annual savings. Measures under the financial balancing program will be decided separately in accordance with the powers set out in the rules of procedure.

The items on the Ahilammi zoning plan and the amended intermunicipal responsibility agreement for the South Häme employment area were approved as proposed.

The council also approved, with a minor textual correction, Janakkala municipality’s operational equality and gender equality plan, which will be incorporated into the municipality’s wellbeing report and plan for 2026–2029.

The agenda and the minutes after their review can be found here. (in Finnish)