Tartu plans 5 million euro street maintenance agency

Tartu plans to invest five million euros in a municipal agency for street cleaning and maintenance, ERR reported. The city says it will take on 30 percent of the work itself after more than 20 years of buying these services from private companies.

The city says the plan would make costs easier to track and ensure roads remain clear during crises. Deputy Mayor Priit Humal said the new base would be designed to operate even without electricity or heating, and would include a fuel reserve that does not depend on petrol stations.

Companies that currently maintain Tartu’s roads have criticised the plan. Tõnno Tiis, a board member of Tänavapuhastuse AS, said the city should focus on ordering and monitoring quality services rather than competing with private businesses using taxpayers’ money.

Andres Agukas, a board member of EKT Teed, also questioned the decision. He said it would be difficult to assess the quality of a municipal service if the city both provides and oversees it. He also argued that the city had compared costs on unequal terms, excluding VAT and the depreciation of equipment and the operating base from its calculations.

Humal said the city could provide the service more cheaply and save one million euros a year in operating costs. Tartu city council member Pärtel Piirimäe of Eesti 200 said savings would depend on using public money responsibly and avoiding corruption risks. He said the city had faced serious problems with some of its own institutions in the past.

Merily Tamm, a junior researcher at the University of Tartu, said it was not yet clear whether the city would provide a better service than private companies or achieve savings. She said service contracts could also be used to ensure continuity during crises. The costs of equipment purchases and the overall service would need to be compared over several years, she said, adding that it may take years to determine whether the plan was successful.