Peter Brixtofte
| Peter Brixtofte | |
|---|---|
Brixtofte in 2000
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| Tax Minister of Denmark | |
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In office 19 November 1992 – 24 January 1993 |
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| Monarch | Margrethe II |
| Prime Minister | Poul Schlüter |
| Preceded by | Anders Fogh Rasmussen |
| Succeeded by | Ole Stavad |
| Mayor of Farum | |
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In office 1985–2002 |
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| Preceded by | Gøsta Gustavsen |
| Succeeded by | Lars Carpens |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
11 December 1949 Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Died | 8 November 2016 (aged 66) Farum, Denmark |
| Children | Vibeke Brixtofte Signe Brixtofte Marie Magne Larsen |
| Occupation | Politician |
Peter Brixtofte (11 December 1949 – 8 November 2016) was a Member of the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) representing Venstre (Liberal Party) from 1973 to 1977, from 1979 to 1981, during 1983 and from 1990 to 8 February 2005. Brixtofte served as the Tax Minister of Denmark from 19 November 1992 to 24 January 1993. He was also Mayor of Farum, and was criminally convicted for actions taken while holding that municipal office and was later jailed. He was the brother of Brixx Member, Jens Brixtofte.
For several years Brixttofte was the Mayor of Farum with his party having had an absolute majority. He was quite popular and Farum was generally considered a successful municipality thanks to its success in finding jobs for the unemployed, particularly immigrants. It was held up as having been a good example by Liberal politicians during national elections.
Brixtofte made headlines with a highly untraditional sale-and-lease-back model where the municipality sold buildings and facilities to private companies and rented them back. Due to various national tax issues this was highly advantageous for both parties. This scheme allowed the municipality to have one of the lowest tax rates in Denmark at the same time as spending a huge amount of money on various welfare programs. Every child in school was given a high-end computer and the elderly were offered a free annual trip to a foreign holiday destination. A lot of prestigious building projects were initiated such as a sports arena and marina completely out of proportion to what one would expect from a city of this size. Due to the tax issues of the sale-and-lease-back model the expenses for these programs were largely covered by all taxpayers of Denmark, most of whom got no benefit from the programs. For a long time, the legal status of the scheme was unclear.
In February 2002 several scandals surrounding his administration were revealed in the media. The first headlines involved exceptionally high spending in his administration. It was claimed that he routinely drank luxury red wine (at a cost of around $1,200 USD per bottle) on the public expense account. Furthermore, the wine was bought at a local restaurant in which Brixtofte was a shareholder. Municipal employees reported that the charismatic mayor had over years shown increasing signs of alcoholism and established an , timid climate at the town hall. Council members said he had attempted to prevent them from investigating his spending.
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Wikipedia