The Union of Municipalities, which held a broad meeting on Friday morning in Latsia, in order to discuss with all its members the proposal of the Board of Directors for these measures, is taking measures with a three-hour suspension of work in the Municipalities, as a reaction to the government's stance regarding their financial resources.
As the President of the Union and Mayor of Larnaca, Andreas Vyras, stated after the meeting, there was unanimity in the body to take measures, while he noted that the Municipal Councils will also appeal to the employees of the Municipalities, so that they can participate in turn. However, Mr. Vyras stated that the Municipal Councils, before setting 'meetings' to decide on the suspension of work, will wait for the response of the Ministry of the Interior to their requests, which is expected within the next week.
"The Minister of the Interior contacted me yesterday and told me that they are positive about the demands of the Union of Municipalities," Mr. Vyras said in his statements after the meeting. "We will wait for their final written position next week and accordingly the Board of Directors of the Union of Municipalities will meet and we will inform our colleagues about how we are proceeding. It is an important element that we will wait for the final position of the government," he explained.
The President of the Union of Municipalities stated that this broad meeting "was the starting point of an effort to put things in their proper perspective, to inform the people, but not to continue to monitor the effort we make every day and not be able to offer the services we need to the citizens, that is, we should not continue what we are doing today of paying only salaries, without being able to repair roads or do a development project, to improve a park."
The spearhead for the Union of Municipalities is the financial pressure they are under, on the one hand due to the fact that the amount of the sponsorship is fixed based on the provisions of the law on the reform of Local Government, while operating costs are on the rise. At the same time, there is serious concern about the possibility of a charge for the cost of landfilling, but also for the repayment of the €16 million fund, in the Koshi and Pentakomo units.
Mr. Vyras noted that the government's proposal to restore the loss of income for the Municipalities is to increase taxes. "It is something that people should know, that it is not the Municipal Councils that are responsible for the increase in taxes, but essentially it is also the proposal from the government side, an official recommendation, not just at the level of corridors," he said.
"I challenge anyone to come and see how the Municipalities are managed now, I challenge any body to come and see if there is mismanagement or not in any Municipality, huge steps have been taken in recent years", continued the President of the Union of Municipalities, underlining that "the people must know that tomorrow there is no other proposal, Because we have to collect the garbage, and clean up the city, and maintain the streets where it is dangerous. We don't want to increase taxes, but the central state forces us."
Especially with regard to waste management, Mr. Vyras pointed out the visible risk of an increase in the cost of fees by €150-€200 for citizens, even speaking in the context of the meeting about a "time bomb". He attributed this risk to the negligence of the state for years, saying that, in search of a way to essentially transfer the cost to the Municipalities and by extension to the citizens, today it is still not clear from the point of view of state services who will bear the maintenance costs and the cost of the interim solution for the Koshi and Pentakomo units.
He reiterated that the decision taken by the Union of Municipalities and its goal is to inform the people. "Because when today the garbage tax is at €250 after a study and the charge is €200 and the central state replied is that it will not give any more money before taxes are increased, what is the choice of the Municipalities?", noted Mr. Vyras.
Asked by journalists about the amount of sponsorship provided by the legislation for the state sponsorship to the Municipalities, the President of the Union of Municipalities replied that the fixed amount was agreed because "it was the only way to proceed with the reform", but added that "since then we have said that a fixed amount cannot remain, because it means that a euro five years ago has about 30% less value than a euro today". He also explained that "in recent years, with high prices, the same expenses have increased by about 25-30%, with the result that in order to be able to cover our expenses we have to increase our taxes."
Asked if he thinks that the Municipalities were trapped due to concessions made in order to finally be able to vote on the local government reform, Mr. Vyras replied that all sides, Ministry, Parliament and Municipalities, agreed to put the amount and the next day to start a discussion in the logic of adjusting this amount according to economic indicators, pointing out that this is still the request of the Union of Municipalities today.
"We are the country that has the lowest percentage of state sponsorship of all European countries. Even Greece, where the powers are approximately the same and the economic problems that the country has gone through are known, this percentage is around 2.5%, while in our country today it is around 1.06%", noted Mr. Vyras.
The indignation of the Mayors during the meeting was evident
In their statements, several Mayors referred to the "blackmailing treatment" of the Municipal Councils by officials, but even by officials of the Ministries, while the Mayor of Nicosia, Charalambos Prountzos, also expressed the view that, because the state does not seem to agree with the legislation passed for the reform of local government, with its attitude it punishes the Municipalities.
In the context of the discussion, the need to calculate and present the real operational needs of the Municipalities was pointed out and based on this calculation to request the calculation of the state sponsorship. Indicatively, Mr. Prountzos mentioned that the municipal districts of Nicosia today receive about €22.5 million after the reform, while before the reform the sponsorship reached €24 million. Having proceeded to calculate the basic needs, the Mayor of Nicosia also noted that 94% of the amount concerns inelastic expenses, i.e. expenses that cannot be reduced.
Besides, several Mayors, including Paralimni – Deryneia and Pegeia, pointed out that the day after the reform, the Municipalities lost important sources of revenue, such as water supply fees or construction permit fees, while they were also entrusted with additional responsibilities, such as the maintenance of the road network. At the same time, the Mayors from Municipalities that have incorporated several communities, such as Polis Chrysochous, Athienou and Dromolaxia, pointed out the need to continue to be granted the amounts corresponding to the needs of the communities.
All the Mayors, however, underlined the need to send the right message to the people, but also to the government, to make the demands clear, so that the measures that will be taken by the Municipal Councils find their goal and their intentions are not misinterpreted.
