Drawing up rules for the leasing of municipal premises and land to the mayor, deputy mayors, committee chairpersons or senior officials

On 26 June 2019, Jussi Salonen, Deputy Mayor of Tuusula (Tupu/Kok), signed a fixed-term lease agreement for the Tuuskodo premises at Kotorannankuja, 04310 Tuusula, for the period 1 July to 31 August 2019. The monthly rent specified in the agreement was EUR 400.00, including electricity, water and other maintenance costs, excluding waste management. The leased area covered 475.5 m2, including a sauna and lounge area. This equates to a rent of €0.84/m2. The maintenance charge for Tuuskoto alone is €7.00/m2. The current price in South Tuusula is €10.00/m2 + electricity and water charges. Mathematically, Jussi Salonen received personal support from municipal tax revenues amounting to at least €2,900.00–4,355.00 in monthly financial benefits.

Why then should rules and regulations be drawn up? The municipality may not knowingly rent premises to companies or organisations at below market rates, as this may be interpreted as illegal state aid. A property or part of a property rented at below market rates to the mayor, deputy mayor or someone in a similar position in the municipality may be interpreted as illegal. When drafting the rules, the starting point could be that no more lease agreements that are disadvantageous to the municipality of Tuusula should be made. Secondly, it should be prevented that an individual official can make such an agreement on their own.

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