Breda municipality's 2027 budget raises the *evenementenleges* — the fee charged for processing an event licence — by 112%. Before the council votes on it, the three parties governing the city have tabled an amendment to freeze that rise for a year.
What the budget says
The figure appears in the *paragraaf* «Lokale heffingen» (local taxes) of the 2027 budget: «Dit betekent voor 2027 een stijging van 112%» (this means a 112% rise for 2027). The document, published in the council's budget app, doesn't include euro amounts by event category — only the percentage.
The text makes two qualifications. One: «De kleine evenementen worden daarbij ontzien» (small events are left out of that rise), without defining where the line falls between small and large. Two: a grant route for «Evenementen die we extra omarmen» (events we particularly embrace) — for example, those run entirely by volunteers or those that contribute something distinctive to Breda's profile.
Other fees rise less
In the same document, OZB — property tax — rises 2.9% a year; the *rioolheffing*, the sewerage charge, rises 7%; and the *afvalstoffenheffing*, the waste charge, rises an indicative 12%, with the final rate still to be set. Nothing close to 112%.
Eighteen organisations and a letter
The protest was reported by NOS, the Dutch public broadcaster: «Achttien organisaties» (eighteen organisations) signed a joint letter. It names Breda Jazz, Ploegendienst, Stichting Kielegat and Koninklijke Horeca Nederland Breda, along with organised hospitality businesses; the full list isn't published.
The figures come from NOS, not from the budget. A large event — the example given is the main carnival parade — would go from around €17,000 to around €37,000; a small one from around €4,900 to more than €10,000. NOS also reports the municipality's argument: today it recovers «slechts zo'n twintig procent van de kosten rond vergunningsaanvragen» (only around twenty per cent of the costs of processing licences).
The two things don't line up: the budget says small events are left out of the rise, but it doesn't fix the threshold, and the small event in NOS's example does go up. Based on what's published, there's no way to know whether NOS is calling something small that the budget doesn't consider *klein*, or whether the exemption covers less than that sentence suggests. The threshold is missing.
The amendment freezes it for a year
Bredavandaag reported on 7 October that the three municipal coalition parties, D66, PRO and VVD, are tabling an amendment to stop the rise: «de coalitiepartijen bevriezen de evenementenleges in 2027» and «Daarmee blijven de leges in 2027 gelijk» (with that, the fees stay the same in 2027). There's money behind it: «In het bestuursakkoord is hiervoor 200.000 euro gereserveerd» (€200,000 has been set aside for this in the coalition agreement), earmarked to improve the licensing process. It will be put forward during the budget process in the municipal council; it hasn't been voted on.
The detail that changes the reading is in the amendment itself: «De bevriezing in 2027 betekent niet dat de leges in de toekomst gelijk blijven» (the freeze in 2027 doesn't mean the fees will stay the same in future). If the council approves it, what Breda's sector has gained is a year's breathing room, not a reversal. Anyone producing events there would do well to check what the Netherlands' event licence requires and what audience it can count on, going by what the VNPF's annual report measures.