Smiltene municipality to publish its newsletter less often

The Smiltene municipal council has decided to reduce how often it publishes its free informational newsletter, "Smiltenes Novada Pašvaldības Vēstis," which is delivered to residents' mailboxes across the municipality. Going forward, the publication will appear once every two months, or six times a year.

Two more issues are still planned for this year, in October and December. Next year the newsletter will come out in February, April, June, August, October and December.

Rising costs

Marita Mūze, head of the municipality's Communications Department, said the decision stems from a sharp increase in delivery costs. Next year, distributing the newsletter to mailboxes would cost the municipality between 15,500 and 23,400 euros, with total printing and distribution costs reaching nearly 39,000 euros a year.

Resident survey

Before making the decision, the municipality surveyed residents and received 318 responses. About 70% of respondents supported reducing the publication frequency; of those, 38% preferred a bimonthly schedule, while 32% favored quarterly issues. The remaining 30% suggested other options, including discontinuing the newsletter altogether.

The council ultimately opted for six issues a year, balancing the survey results with the need to keep printed information regularly available. According to the municipality's estimates, this approach will save up to 75% of previous distribution costs. The newsletter's format and content will not change significantly, though content will be adapted to cover two-month periods.

The publication will continue to be delivered free of charge to all 8,855 registered mailboxes in the municipality, with the service provided by state postal company Latvijas Pasts.