Municipal kindergarten fees are €50 a month per child, rising to €56 if the facility has a swimming pool. The price was dropped from €71.25 and €78.26 on April 1.

The new policy will affect all families and will not depend on families' income.

The vote comes after weeks of political wrangling by the Reform Party in the run-up to the local elections as it tries to increase its support ratings.

Tallinn Deputy Mayor for Education Aleksei Jašin (Eesti 200) wrote in an opinion piece published by ERR on Friday that abolishing kindergarten fees would plunge the capital's early childhood education system into crisis for years.

"This would stall salary increases for teachers and support specialists, slow the creation of new kindergarten spots, delay the renovation of older kindergartens, and drive private kindergartens out of business," he said.

"Eesti 200 has opposed this populism from the beginning—both within the coalition and publicly. We stand by our values and principles, and our faction will not support this harmful decision," Jašin wrote.

Joosep Vimm, chair of the Social Democratic Party's council faction, said the party will vote in favor of abolishing kindergarten fees.

"No one needed to convince us to abolish the fee—we've supported it publicly, and it has been a core part of our platform that early childhood education, as part of the education system, should be free," he said.

"In fact, it should be free nationwide. In Tallinn, the questions for us have been logistical and budgetary, and there have been disagreements within the coalition as a whole. Representatives from all four coalition parties have worked hard to find solutions while ensuring stable city governance. The Social Democrats will keep the promises made to our partners," he added.

Sven Sester, chair of the Isamaa faction, said as funding sources have been identified, the party is also prepared to support the measure.

"It was important for us to recognize that abolishing the kindergarten fee is not a one-time expense, but a long-term cost for the city budget. To support it, funding sources had to be found and included in long-term budget planning. Our partners were willing to discuss this. As of today, those sources have been identified," he said.

Sester explained that roughly half of the funding will come from raising rents on municipal housing. Additional funds will come from restructuring the business incubator and reducing the amount of money allocated for winter snow removal from €8 million to €6 million.

Mart Kallas, chair of the EKRE faction, said the party supports abolishing the kindergarten fee. However, EKRE does not support the second supplementary budget to pay for it.

ERR also reached out to the opposition Center Party with questions, but the party's and council faction's chair, Mihhail Kõlvart, has not responded. The Center Party has previously submitted its own proposal to eliminate kindergarten fees.

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