2.3 Vienna as a municipality

2. Vienna - a regional authority

The Federal Constitutional Act stipulates that every municipality in Austria must have three mandatory bodies, which are to be supported by an administrative apparatus.

The mandatory bodies to be established by every municipality are:

the municipal council (in Vienna: the City Council)
the municipal board (in Vienna: the City Senate)
the Mayor

A Municipal Council Office must be established to perform tasks of municipal administration. In Vienna, the City Administration assumes this role, while it also constitutes a body in its own right.

Based on the Vienna City Statutes, a number of other, non-mandatory bodies and offices have been established (i.e. bodies not stipulated by the Federal Constitutional Act). These include the Executive City Councillors, the committees and commissions of the City Council, the District Councils and the Vienna Appellate Senate.

The Vienna City Statutes ("Wiener Stadtverfassung", abbreviated WStV) serve as Vienna's municipal statutes. Their first section takes the form of a provincial law, while the second section – which defines the tasks and functions of Vienna as a federal province - has the status of a constitutional act at provincial level.

The City Council

The Vienna City Council is the highest authority in the city.

Membership

The 100 members of the Vienna City Council are at the same time members of the Vienna Provincial Parliament. The members of the City Council are elected by the people for a legislative period of five years, as provided for in the Regulations on Municipal Elections in Vienna. Elections are held on the basis of universal, equal, secret, personal and direct proportional representation. According to the EU Directive on municipal elections, citizens of other EU states living in Vienna are eligible to vote at the district level, but cannot participate in elections to the City Council.

Based on the results of the 2025 elections to the Vienna City Council and District Councils, the current distribution of the 100 seats in the Vienna City Council is as follows: Social Democrats (SPÖ) 43 seats, Freedom Party (FPÖ) 22 seats, Green Party 15 seats; NEOS 10 seats, Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP) 10 seats.

Seating plan in the Vienna City Council

Function and tasks

The City Council’s function is to safeguard the interests of all members of the municipality. Its tasks include general supervision of the municipality, electing the mayor, the deputy mayors and the city councillors. The City Council adopts the municipal budget plan (i.e. the annual budget), approves staffing plans, and adopts the final balance.

It is also responsible for approving the Rules of Procedure and the Allocation of Competencies in the City Administration (- both documents are subsequently decreed by the Mayor).

Provided that the amount of money involved in the transaction exceeds a specific threshold (pursuant to sec 88 of the Vienna City Statutes), the City Council is also responsible for specific types of transaction including

real estate transactions
granting loans and other legal transactions
authorising subscriptions and subsidies
write-offs and the waiving of claims.

The City Council may delegate some of its tasks to other municipal bodies .

Inquiries, motions and initiatives

The members of the City Council have the right to address inquiries to the Mayor or the Executive City Councillors in matters within the municipality‘s own sphere of competence. They may also submit (written) motions, which must be dealt within one month, though the Mayor and Executive City Councillors are not required to approve them. Inquiries and motions may also be submitted as urgent initiatives if this is demanded by at least six members of the City Council.

City Council meetings

The Mayor convenes a meeting of the City Council whenever it is "required for the conduct of daily business", or upon receiving a written request from a minimum of 25 members of the City Council or from a party caucus in the City Council.

The meetings of the City Council are chaired by a chairperson. The City Council must elect four chairpersons from among its members.

The City Senate

The Vienna City Senate consists of the Mayor and the City Councillors.

According to a unique regulation found only in the Vienna City Statutes, not all members of the City Senate, i.e. the Vienna City Government, necessarily have a portfolio of their own. This means that, apart from Executive City Councillors, there may be City Councillors without portfolio, who have a seat and vote in the City Senate but do not head a specific administrative group.

The City Councillors are elected by the City Council in accordance with the principle of proportional representation. This means that, depending on the total number of City Councillors (which may range from 9 to 15), every political party has the right to be represented in the Vienna City Senate in proportion to the number of its seats in the City Council. The political parties nominate the candidates by majority vote. In the subsequent voting procedure, only votes cast for a lawfully nominated candidate are counted as valid.

After the 2025 elections to the Vienna City Council and District Councils, the City Council fixed the number of City Councillors for this election period at 13. This has resulted in the following distribution of seats in the City Senate: 6 for the Social Democrats (SPÖ), 3 for the Freedom Party (FPÖ), 2 for the Green Party, 1 for the NEOS, and 1 for the Austrian People’s Party (ÖVP).

Function and tasks

In general, the City Senate takes counsel on all issues the City Council has to pass a decision on. In particular, the City Senate has been assigned the task of assessing and debating the municipality’s budget estimate and final balance in cooperation with the financial committee.

Further tasks of the City Senate (pursuant to sec 97 of the Vienna City Statutes) include

drawing up and submitting to the City Council the nomination list of Executive City Councillors
appointing the Chief Executive Director of the Vienna City Administration
approving the filing of complaints with the Austrian Constitutional Court

Just like the Mayor, the City Senate has "emergency competence" (pursuant to sec 98 of the Vienna City Statutes), i.e. it can take decisions on behalf of the City Council or one of its committees in certain cases of special urgency.

Meetings

The Mayor presides over the City Senate and convenes its meetings.

Motions and requests to be dealt with by the City Senate are, as a rule, submitted by the competent Executive City Councillors.

City Senate meetings are held in camera but members of the City Council, district chairpersons and other (competent) individuals may be asked to attend.

The Chief Executive Director of the City Administration has the right to attend the meetings of the City Senate and submit motions.

The Mayor

The Mayor is elected by the City Council, with a term of office equivalent to the City Council’s legislative period. The Mayor remains in office until a successor has been elected. The Mayor need not be a member of the City Council but must be eligible for it. The Mayor is officially represented by the Vice Mayors, who are elected by the City Council.

Functions and tasks

In her/his function as Provincial Governor, the Mayor also presides over the provincial government (- in line with Vienna's dual function as a federal province and a municipality).
The Mayor is the head of the City Administration and senior to all

Executive City Councillors
district chairpersons and
employees of the City Administration.

The Mayor convenes City Council sessions and City Senate meetings. She/He has a seat in all committees, subcommittees and commissions of the City Council, and chairs the meetings of the City Senate.
As Provincial Governor she/he carries out all tasks assigned to her/him by the Federal Constitution - she/he is assisted in this task by the Office of the Provincial Government, i.e. the City Administration.
The Mayor is also responsible for the municipality’s so-called "delegated sphere of competence", e.g. for all tasks that are delegated to the municipality by federal or provincial law and must be performed in accordance with federal or provincial directions.
With the consent of the City Council, the Mayor decrees the Rules of Procedure and the Allocation of Competencies of the City Administration

It should be noted that the Mayor, just like the City Senate, has "emergency competence" in certain cases. She/he also has comprehensive cancellation and arrogation rights (pursuant to sec 92 and 93 of the Vienna City Statutes).

Emergency competence

The term “emergency competence” refers to the right to take a decision instead of the body that has primary decision competence in a given matter if the urgency of the situation so requires, i.e. if substantial reasons make it impossible to wait for this body to decide.

Arrogation right

This term refers to the right to arrogate documents and administrative cases, i.e. to assume responsibility for these cases and for performing the related tasks.

Cancellation right

The term “cancellation right” means that a body is entitled or – if substantial reasons so require – obliged to cancel the implementation of a decision taken by another (collegial) body in order to allow for a new decision to be taken in the same matter.

Executive City Councillors

The Executive City Councillors are municipal bodies of the City of Vienna (pursuant to sec 8 of the Vienna City Statutes). At the same time, they are members of the Vienna City Senate and part of the City Administration.

Within the City Administration, they serve as the head of their respective Administrative Group. Currently there are 7 Executive City Councillors, each heading one Administrative Group. In this function, the Executive City Councillors are responsible to the Mayor and the City Council as they perform tasks pertaining to the City Administration's everyday conduct of business in the municipality´s own sphere of competence.

The City Administration

The City Administration is both the municipal council office of the City of Vienna and the central district authority of the administrative district of Vienna. In addition, it also serves as the Office of the Provincial Government of Vienna.

The City Administration consists of the Mayor, the Executive City Councillors (but not the City Councillors without portfolio), the Chief Executive Director and the required number of staff.

District authorities (district councils, district chairpersons, district council committees) do not form part of the City Administration.

The Chief Executive Director of the City Administration plays a particularly important role as the head of internal services. Like the Mayor, the Chief Executive Director is senior to all staff members of the City Administration, except for the Executive City Councillors and district chairpersons. The Chief Executive Director may represent the Mayor in her or his function as head of the City Administration.

Tasks

Independently of its other tasks, the City Administration is responsible for administrative processes, documentation and file management in all matters of the municipality ("Geschäftsbesorgungsmonopol“).
The City Administration performs all public authority tasks that are not specifically assigned to other bodies (“subsidiary power of general competence in local authority matters”).
The City Administration has a number of further tasks; for instance, (pursuant to sec 105 para3 of the Vienna City Statutes, it is in charge of the municipality's direct finance and property management, concluding and terminating employment contracts for the municipality, as well as drawing up (i.e. preparing) its (pre-)budget and final balance.
Under the direction and responsibility of the Mayor, the City Administration is in charge of local policing tasks within the municipality´s sphere of competence.

Organisational Structure of the City Administration

As a rule, the entire City Administration is subdivided into Administrative Groups, which in turn consist of several Municipal Departments and enterprises. There are three exceptions, however: the Chief Executive Office, the City of Vienna Court of Audit and the Municipal District Offices are part of the City Administration but do not form part of an Administrative Group.

Administrative Groups

The Administrative Groups must correspond to the administrative units decreed by the City Council. A separate Council Committee is established for each unit, and thus for each Administrative Group. In terms of public law, the Administrative Groups are portfolios comprising related local government tasks and competencies. Every Administrative Group is subdivided into several departments and enterprises. Currently, the City Administration consists of the following Administrative Groups:

In accordance with the current version of the Allocation of Competencies for the Vienna City Administration, the seven Administrative Groups currently comprise 57 Municipal Departments plus three enterprises: the Vienna Health Association (Wiener Gesundheitsverbund), Housing in Vienna (Wiener Wohnen) and Vienna Wastewater Management (Wien Kanal).

As mentioned above, the Chief Executive Office, the City of Vienna Court of Audit and the Municipal District Offices in Vienna are not part of an Administrative Group, and are therefore not headed by an Executive City Councillor.

Chief Executive Office

The Chief Executive Office is headed by the Chief Executive Director and currently comprises the Executive Office of the Mayor (MDP), the Executive Office for the Co-ordination of Climate Protection Measures (MD-KLI), the Office of the Vienna Public Utilities (MD-PWS), the Executive Office for Strategic Communication (MD-SKO) and the following four Executive Groups:

Executive Group for Legal Affairs
Executive Group for Personnel and Internal Auditing
Executive Group for Organisation, Safety and Security
Executive Group for Construction and Technology

The following units are directly subordinate to the Chief Executive Director, and are formally part of the Chief Executive Office as well: "General Matters”, " European and International Affairs", "Coordination", " Municipal District Offices and Chauffeur Service", "Communication and International Relations", "Budget Coordination", "Director for Science, Research and Business Location" and "Director for Climate Affairs".

City of Vienna Court of Audit

The City of Vienna Court of Audit forms part of the Vienna City Administration. Its Director is appointed by the Vienna City Council for a term of five years upon the proposal of the Mayor, and may be reappointed after the five-year term has ended. The Director of the City of Vienna Court of Audit can only be recalled by a qualified majority (i.e. two thirds) of the Vienna City Council, and is not subject to any directions concerning the extent and nature of audits.

The City of Vienna Court of Audit is in charge of operational audits (pursuant to sec 73b of the Vienna City Statutes) and safety audits (sec 73c Vienna City Statutes). Operational auditing means ensuring that all management operations conducted by the Vienna City Administration or by funds, foundations with legal personality, and other institutions or facilities managed by bodies of the Vienna City Administration are conducted correctly, in good order and in line with the principles of economy, efficiency and effectiveness. Further auditing tasks are based on the above legal regulations. The City of Vienna Court of Audit is required to submit an annual report on its activities to the Vienna City Council.

Municipal District Offices

Although the currently 15 Municipal District Offices are part of the City Administration as a single public administrative authority, they do not form part of an Administrative Group. The Municipal District Offices are headed by legally qualified civil servants, who are provided with the necessary number of staff depending on the requirements of the respective district. They perform the tasks assigned to them in the Allocation of Competencies of the Vienna City Administration.

Departments of the City Administration

The departments are headed by officials referred to as Heads of Department, who have full responsibility for their departments and are both authorised and obligated to give instructions to all members of their staff. Departments thus follow a monocratic structure.

All heads of departments have a basic right to self-organisation, i.e. they are entitled to determine the internal structure of their department in accordance with the tasks assigned to it. When it comes to the number and rank of service posts in their department, however, they are bound by the decisions and standards set by the Chief Executive Office. The rights and duties of heads of departments and their staff are laid down in the Rules of Procedure of the Vienna City Administration.

As a rule, departments have only limited competencies with regard to the utilisation of funds for the tasks assigned to them. Once a year the City Council decides on the extent to which the City Administration (and its departments) may dispose of these funds without prior consultation of the City Council, City Senate or competent Council Committee.

German version of the City Council decision determining autonomous spending thresholds for 2023 (in German)

Important stipulations on the implementation of the budget (i.e. the budget estimate) are laid down in the 2018 Budget Regulations for the Vienna City Administration. It should be noted that every project the City Administration plans to spend money on must be provided for in the budget (which is adopted by the City Council). Expenses not provided for in the budget require separate approval.

Employees with Special Assignments

Staff members of the City Administration may be appointed as "Employees with Special Assignments" to better accomplish large-scale municipal projects and specific co-ordination tasks within the City Administration.

Employees with Special Assignments are appointed by the Mayor. The Chief Executive Director of the Vienna City Administration issues a decree to officially announce their tasks. To carry out the tasks assigned to them they are vested with the right to issue directions to the heads of departments within whose field of competence their tasks fall.

Vienna Appellate Senate

The Vienna Appellate Senate consists of a chairperson and two other members, all of whom are to be appointed by the City Senate from the group of civil servants of the City Administration with legal training, for a term of five years. In addition, one substitute member is to be appointed for each member. The sessions of the Vienna Appellate Senate are to be convened by the chairperson at least once every quarter and are not open to the public.

Functions and tasks

The Vienna Appellate Senate decides on appeals against decisions in matters within the municipality's own sphere of competence as well as on violations of the duty to reach such a decision, provided that recourse in the municipality's own sphere of competence is not excluded by law. The provision of section 75 (1) second sentence of the Vienna City Statutes (WStV) provides for such an exclusion of the intra-municipal appeal procedure, namely for the matters of the municipality's own sphere of competence regulated by provincial provisions. Therefore, the Vienna Appellate Senate ultimately only has the power to decide in those matters of the municipality's own sphere of competence that are regulated by federal laws and where the federal legislator has not excluded the intra-municipal appeal procedure.

Vienna Independent Audit Tribunal for Political Parties

The three members of the Vienna Independent Audit Tribunal for Political Parties are appointed by the Vienna Provincial Government for a term of five years. For every member, a substitute member is appointed, who replaces the member if they are unable to exercise their office. Members can be reappointed after the end of a term. Tribunal decisions are taken by simple majority in the presence of all three members. Complaints against decisions of the Tribunal may be filed with the Vienna Administrative Court.

Functions and tasks

The Vienna Independent Audit Tribunal for Political Parties is an independent body entitled to impose fines for violations of certain regulations of the Vienna Political Parties Act (sec 7 para 1, Vienna Political Parties Act). It was established within the framework of the Office of the Vienna Provincial Parliament. The members are independent and not bound to directions in exercising their office. The office of the Vienna Independent Audit Tribunal for Political Parties is formally part of the Department for Elections and Specific Legal Affairs in the Office of the Vienna Provincial Parliament.