With the start of the political course after the summer term, local governments begin to outline the budgets for the next fiscal year. Those of 2023 will be the last before the next election call, scheduled for May of that year. The current complex scenario is a runaway inflationAn energy crisis, forcing the implementation of contingency plans and having an enormous impact on the economic and social fabric, is calling on mayors to move between limiting spending and freezing taxes. Of course, the funds that have started to come from Brussels with the Next Generation program and the paradoxically that municipalities already hold the healthiest accounts of the last decade allow projects to step into the accelerator in their earlier execution. appointment with surveys. However, not all government teams are guaranteed to face or want to face updated accounts with the last extension of their mandate, especially in municipalities where this is dependent on agreements between various political forces. Avoiding conflicts and thus avoiding the possibility of councilors showing weakness by failing to meet the budget route is a decisive factor.
The provincial capital, led by Luis Barcala (PP), is one of the municipalities where greenlighting 2023 budgets seems more complex. City sources declined to say whether city council can continue to bet on large accounts. such as those in force, amounting to 313 million euro and requiring an increase in investments of 112%; The amount to be added to the remaining 58 million euros of credit changes charged. The suspension of fiscal rules makes this increase in spending possible. Although the path in recent years continues, it is the only thing pointed out from the consulate that “all possible scenarios” have been considered, although at the earliest, eventually, confirmation of accounts is practically impossible. That means doing it on the eve of the election campaign. This is likely something that will force the PP and Cs coalition to make new Vox appointments in 2022, such as cuts in social areas such as Equality, Cooperation and Immigration. In any case, most of the investments planned for this year are guaranteed to reach elections in full implementation, with renewed cement in different neighborhoods, sea front and Traditional Center.
More specifically, the mayor of Elche, socialist Carlos González, as he reviewed the main challenges the City Council faced in planning the next accounts. He warns that inflation will be one of the main conditioning factors and its derivatives will affect various chapters. On the one hand, we will have to wait for the central government’s decision on the wages of municipal staff for the coming year. How will the authorities compensate the increase in the CPI? This is something that, according to González, will have an extraordinary cost. Another effect to consider is to control how inflation affects certain service contracts provided in the city; Review and number the contracts indexed to the IPC. Feared inflation can also have an impact on jobs that are committed and in some cases require price revisions. And all this considering that the local government that manages PSPV and Compromís does not exclude the need to launch new strategies to encourage aid to families, SMEs and self-employed people to face rising energy costs. But the councilor argues that the municipal treasury is in good shape – six million outstanding debts have been repaid this year – so it will have its own investment capacity without ruling out the possibility of financing actions. Taxes will not be touched, they will be frozen. “We are committed to fiscal moderation, and even more so in the context that we will develop it,” González says.
Also a member of the Benidorm city council, Tony Perez (PP) underlines that low taxation is necessary at these times, but this is something that does not prevent some accounts from being promoted with a broad profession. Funds will be available to maintain the productive fabric in the event of a welfare and energy crisis, but an investment chapter guaranteed by the mayor will be consolidated. The implementation of the Sustainable and Integrative Urban Development Strategy or the development of the Sustainable Tourism Plan for Benidorm are some of the projects that will continue to be carried out alongside the work that led to a crazy autumn of concrete and brick. . All this, together with European funds, since the main city councils of the province have requested more than 125m euros from the EU to improve cities through more than fifty initiatives. On the contrary, Pérez notes that the effort of the State and regional government to assist municipalities in times of difficulties is not as strong as it should be in the framework of an energy crisis, but Benidorm’s local government ensures that these problems are overcome. bets on sustainability, in better conditions after they’ve done their homework to reduce energy expenditure.
Councilor for Finance at Alcoy, vanessa molto, underlines that the City Council will have a large budget to the extent that major actions are designed, mainly thanks to EU funds, but emphasizes that these are only given when a government does its homework and prepares good projects. While hotlines will be maintained to breathe oxygen into families and productive sectors experiencing the worst, Moltó isn’t closing the door to review some taxes. He emphasizes that because it has a social function, it is not about demonizing taxes, but about finding a balance. In Alcoy, too, the mayor underlines that tax pressure has always been below average and will continue to be so in the coming year.
Elda Presidency Council Member, José Antonio Amat (PSOE) underlines that the local government does not plan to increase any tribute or taxes, among other things, because in the event of economic uncertainty “we cannot increase the financial pressure on neighbors.” He adds that the bet on the budget for next year will be the limit and in no case will there be a tax increase. Similarly, it guarantees that investments will occur, but there is no need to request loans for ongoing projects with healthy City Council accounts, zero debt, and very low payment terms to suppliers.
Treasury Mayor in Villena, John Joseph Olivares (PSOE) stresses that budgets will be as large as funds from Brussels allow, but stresses that the council has enough kidneys to fund actions such as those programmed with 12m euros residues. Adjusting current expenditures without sacrificing quality in services and keeping up with increased taxes are two of the keys that will guide the preparation of accounts.
And a very similar scenario is the one they drew about tributes in Dénia. Treasurer Mayor, Francesc Rosello, (PSOE) underlines that there will be no increase in revenues as taxes will not be touched and everything that rises in the budget will be through subsidies, especially in Europe. In addition to the projects that allow to increase energy efficiency, the implementation of projects that allow progress towards a sustainable tourism destination are two of the priorities of this local government.
Orihuela and Torrevieja rush for 2022 municipal projects
Torrevieja and Orihuela did not hesitate to approve the 2022 budget, although the reasons for the delay were very different. in the case of a municipality governed by Eduardo Dolon (PP), the government team argues that the accounts were not approved, mainly due to the confusion caused by the change in capital gains collection after the Constitutional decision. Treasury Mayor Domingo Paredes explains that the collection for this concept is calculated to decrease by up to 8 million from the 22 people who enter. However, they do not stop confirming 2022 accounts, but they can point to 2023 accounts when the time is up. They will keep the budget line in place: broad in terms of spending on citizens and services, but adapting. warranties, generics and maintenance services. Not to mention tax increases. In Orihuela’s case, the current accounts have been extended since 2018, and new government partners PSOE and C’s are trying to get this year’s accounts against the clock. Mayor, Caroline Grace (PSOE) bets on prudence, limitation of spending because there will come a time when the exemption from the fiscal rules dictated by the Government will not be extended and “if you spend too much now, then you will have to make adjustments”. However, he underlines that the accounts are healthy and this allows for investments with own resources or financing. seas