Filenews 30 October 2025 - by Vassos Vassiliou
Reports by the mayor of Amathus, Kyriakos Xydias, regarding the finances of the municipalities and the amount that can be burdened by the citizens, if it is taken into account that only the fee for garbage can be shot up to €1,000 per household, are shocking. Of course, there is also the "optimistic" side of the case, if it is taken into account that if everything goes as planned, each household will only pay... €400 per year.
The above references were made yesterday, during a discussion before the parliamentary committee on the Interior, in which the issue of state sponsorships to the Local Authorities was discussed.
Indicative is the reference of the mayor of Amathus as to what was in force before the reform of the Local Government, in which, in the end, as he claimed, "all the suffering and increases were loaded", without, however, this having anything to do with reality. As he said, a municipal district in his municipality had a deficit of €500,000 every year. The problem was solved in a year, he said. Commenting on criticisms by MPs that the reform did not result in savings, such as the commitments, Mr. Xydias argued that more than €200 million were saved by the staff alone. Which, however, as he said, end up in the state's coffers and at the same time "we are beating up the municipalities", as he characteristically mentioned.
Among other things, Mr. Xydias stated the following: "We are referring to distortions. " Let the sinless cast the first stone." Isn't it a distortion that legislation has recorded without our consent, an amount of state sponsorship to the Local Authorities which remains stable regardless of the differences that take place around us at the economic level (inflation, cost increase, etc.)? I won't expand, but I want to send some messages. First of all, we found ourselves in a crisis regarding sponsorship. Last year, we spent four months in order to reach an agreement and this year the Ministry of Finance raises the issue again regarding the percentages of sponsorship for the payroll, etc. So this is clear. Then it was mentioned that our role in terms of the overall responsibilities of the state can be one third or a quarter. We are talking about 20-25%. How much is the funding? It is 1.06%, while in Greece it is 3.16% and in Denmark with 28.8%. And if there was proper funding, we would not be discussing whether the payroll should be less than 40% of the budget of each municipality.
Continuing, the mayor of Amathus said that "we have a tendency in this place, even when we do something right (despite all the mistakes that exist) to hit it from the top and blame it all. Half of the problems referred to have nothing to do with the reform of Local Government. Is the reform responsible for the fact that 8,000 urban planning applications were pending before the reform? Is the reform to blame for the fact that it was decided, with the disagreement of the municipalities, to transfer these pending issues to the EDA? We drowned the baby before baptizing him. But I can't hear here (from MPs) that there is no effort to tidy up the municipalities. I honestly tell you, we have the faith to put our house in order. Incredible things are being done to save and streamline. Personally, I have a municipal district (and something similar is observed in Nicosia), which should be awarded a corresponding Nobel Prize, if there is one. Let me tell you that every year it had an operating deficit of half a million euros. Within a year we solved the issue. Where was the state, where was the prefect to control?"
Mr. Xydas argued that "huge efforts are being made so that we should not blame everything on the reform. Let me give just one example. If we do not properly manage the system of sorting at the source (something that the Parliament voted for and we reacted to) let me say it clearly: If we continue with the mind where we are going, the garbage will be charged €1,000 per household. Now, if the reform works, the economies of scale that were announced, and so on, the end may be €400. Do you know what journalists will write? They will write 'behold, we reformed and from €200 we pay €400'".
Finally, the mayor of Amathus referred to the efforts of the Local Authorities for savings. "We also said before the elections that the goal is to offer better services at the lowest price. We never said that the fees would be lower. Of course, there are huge savings from the reform. These savings result from the personnel saved in the district administrations, in the Town Planning Department for the permits, in the Public Works for the roads of primary importance undertaken by the municipalities, and so on. I can tell you that the amount saved is more than €200 million. The difference is that the savings are reaped by the central state and not the Local Government."
