ONLY WITH US. Will Tusk’s government starve Poland? “The day of great disappointment”; “They say they give, but they take twice as much”

“This is one of the biggest frauds of the Civic Platform: saying that they give something, but at the same time taking twice as much,” says Olga Semeniuk-Patkowska, PiS MP and former Deputy Minister of Development and Technology, on the wPolityce.pl portal, referring to the Income Act. “But I expected something else. Meanwhile, the government, which so strongly emphasized the story of local government, today proves that it cares neither about dialogue, nor about listening to comments, nor about the reality of changes,” says another of our interlocutors, Stalowa Wola President Lucjusz Nadbereżny.

At the Ministry of Finance, we still remember the difficult situation of local governments in 2024. Therefore, I would like to state that this year PLN 10 billion will go to local governments.

– Minister of Finance Andrzej Domański announced this today. Next year it is expected to increase to PLN 25 billion.

The head of the Ministry of Justice took part in the meeting of the Joint Committee of the State and Local Government, which was devoted to the draft law on local government revenues. As he said in an interview with PAP, the local government has expressed a positive assessment of the project, albeit with some reservations. For example, Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski was pleased with the “new, fairer and more independent from the current political system of financing local government”.

READ ALSO: Finance ministry head announces ‘infusion’ for local governments. He forgot to add that it is mainly the richest. ‘The good times are over’

“A day of great disappointment

What is the truth about this law and will the system of financing local government really be as fair and independent from the current political landscape as the mayor of the capital claims (who, like many presidents of the largest Polish cities, comes from the political formation that makes up the current ruling coalition)?

We asked for the bill Olga Semeniuk-Patkowska, PiS MP and former Deputy Minister of Development and Technologyand also Luciusz Nadbereżny, President of Stalowa Wolaelected in the first round for a third term in April.

During the United Right, the biggest complaints were from the big cities. The Law on Local Government Units clearly states that part of the income is from central subsidies, but that cities with large budgets should mainly generate their own income. It is known that smaller municipalities, counties or voivodeships, which are, for example, former state farms, have completely different possibilities. The most outspoken were, of course, the presidents of Warsaw, Poznań, Wrocław and other big cities, who claimed that they were “starved” by Law and Justice. However, it was only an attempt to emotionally demonstrate that these local governments are burdened with negative financial consequences. As Deputy Minister of Development at that time, responsible for the Department of Economy, but also for Investments and Technologies, I saw how many projects in municipalities such as Dywity, Nidzica and Giżycko were implemented from the funds of the Strategic Investment Programme or, for example, the Local Government Roads Fund.

– the MP lists Semeniuk-Patkowska.

In addition, we have tried to introduce regulations regarding subsidies for local authorities at such a level that it would firstly not be harmful and secondly unfair to smaller municipalities and poviats, which would not participate in any competition and would have problems overcoming barriers, for example in overcoming the own contribution as part of receiving a subsidy

– he adds.

Unfortunately, today is a day of great disappointment for local government. The government, which has been saying for so many years that it is a pro-local government party and that it will find solutions to provide more money for local government, is very persistent, despite the willingness of local government officials to enter into dialogue and point out the mistakes of this act, proposing a project that will actually lead to the return of a very harmful polarization-diffusion model of Polish development. A model based on very dynamic support for large urban centers

– says the president in turn Neighbouring.

A major crisis is coming for local governments

Luciusz Nadbereżny points out that the act resembles a richly laid table for large centres and the largest cities, while smaller ones have to make do with leftovers.

This is the policy of a richly laid table for large local government centers. The middle and smaller ones have to be content with what falls from the table. This is very disappointing, because many local government officials have pointed out the need for changes and equal opportunities, so that we can be a country that creates opportunities for sustainable development, also for those organisms that also need extra support because of their size, location and problems. And these demands are absolutely not reflected in this act

– emphasizes the mayor of Stalowa Wola.

The former Deputy Minister of Development and Technology recalled that some local governments have already started increasing fees for daycare centers.

When it comes to local governments, there will be a big crisis. They will be starved by the central government. The funds should only go to the big cities, which are responsible for managing and spending these funds to do PR of local governments of PO or to say different things. An example is the issue of the Active Parent program in Koszalin, where we already know that people who earn the lowest national wage will have to pay for a daycare center not 700-800 PLN or 900 PLN, but 1,500 PLN, 1,600 PLN or 1,700 PLN.

– points to MP Semeniuk-Patkowska.

Local government officials are also facing difficult times, according to the president of Stalowa Wola.

With undisguised horror it must be said that we are facing very difficult times in local government, and above all: the stopping of a very important investment trend that we have seen in the beautifully developing local Poland in recent years. It is disturbing that we are returning to the worst development model, which caused so many young, ambitious people to leave smaller cities that were unable to implement culture, sports, personal development of their residents or create economic development. A return to development based on the polarization-diffusion paradigm is the most harmful program for Poland, because it affects local Poland and excludes it.

– emphasizes Nadbereżny.

Trzaskowski’s PR and the worst fraud of the law

Opposition politicians and local government officials from smaller towns often say the act is unfair and will hit the smallest local governments.

We have the statement of the President of Chełm, Jakub Banaszek, that where savings have been introduced, the spending of funds for promotional purposes has been adjusted. Warsaw, unfortunately, is the city where this budget is the largest, and this money is simply wasted on all sorts of meaningless purposes, such as expansion equipment in the town hall, generally understood PR from Rafał Trzaskowski – we are talking about funds that could be used for completely different purposes

– reminds Olga Semeniuk-Patkowska.

I remember that subsequent editions of the Strategic Investment Program were launched. Rafał Trzaskowski shouted that he needed it for the stadium and roads in Warsaw. It is known that he could also influence the taxes and fees paid by entrepreneurs in the capital to be higher, but he simply had to create good conditions for the operation of these companies. And he did not do that…

– indicates.

The worst fraud in this whole bill, however, is that “there will be more money”. There will be no more money, and what is more – in my opinion – there will be much less of it than we already have. Today we have a distribution of education subsidies, share in PIT and VAT. However, the proposed new law introduces the merger of these funds into one subsidy, putting everything in one bag. For what purpose? To make it difficult to extract the underfunded components, for example, education or social assistance. So that the PIT or CIT distribution algorithm cannot be transparently displayed. Why will there be less money for local governments? Because the current government has abandoned the best local government program of the last thirty years, namely the Polish Order of Strategic Investments, which provided real flexibility, well-understood freedom in choosing the most important projects for local governments, and at the same time the largest investment money in recent years. All local governments, from the smallest to the largest, received financial resources for investments

– says Lucjusz Nadbereżny.

However, I had expected something else. Meanwhile, the government, which has so strongly emphasized the local government’s story, is proving that it does not care about dialogue, nor about listening to comments, nor about the reality of changes. This is not a good day for local governments, but also for Poland. If Polish local governments do not have the development dynamics that have accompanied us in recent years, we will lose a lot of opportunities, and the lives of residents will simply get worse. Local governments will not be able to afford to provide services at such a high level as before. And this will result in higher taxes and drastic increases in fees. because there are no miracles. You can see how difficult the situation is when some local governments decide to ruthlessly use the opportunity offered by the Active Parent program to increase childcare fees to PLN 1,500.

– lists.