Where does the term canyon year come from?
From 2026, municipalities will have to deal with a cut on the municipal fund. This is the contribution they get from the government to perform their duties. From then on, structurally 2.4 billion euros less will be transferred to municipalities.
The Association of Dutch Municipalities (VNG) calls this the ‘canyon year’, because they want to emphasize that municipalities end up in the red figures. The VNG lobbying to undo the cutbacks and consciously uses the term canyon year for this.