The mayor of Coimbra, José Manuel Silva, this Saturday accused the government of “invoicing” at the expense of municipalities, with tax revenues from VAT, which he labeled as “immoral”.
Speaking at the National Assembly of Mayors to be held today in Viseu, José Manuel Silva said that the municipalities continue to wait for the government’s support to compensate for the “dramatic” financial situation caused by the effects of the war in Ukraine.
The mayor of Coimbra, elected by the coalition “Juntos Somos Coimbra” (PSD/CDS-PP/We, Citizens!/PPM/Aliança/RiR and Volt), said that, in the case of his province, the consequences of the war are in the order of EUR 9 million, “if it doesn’t get worse”.
“Now nine million euros make a difference and endanger our municipal function. And that is all the more immoral when we see that the government invoices at the expense of local authorities, namely in the context of VAT,” emphasized the mayor, who spoke on the panel devoted to “Local management and financing”.
In the same debate, the mayor of Pinhel, district of Guarda, Rui Ventura, ruled that the mayors “cannot accept the payment of VAT on electricity”.
“I no longer talk about the VAT of our contracts, in which we pay the audiovisual fee and taxes, because it seems like in PT (Electric Transformation Stations) people watch television, as well as in cemeteries and morgues. A municipality like mine is equivalent to a lot of money he underlined.
Rui Ventura, elected by the PPD-PSD, said municipalities are paying more in public lighting than they have paid and that the “revenues are for the state”.
“We provide our citizens with a public security service and so a firm stance must be taken here,” he added.
The mayor of Felgueiras, Nuno Fonseca, for his part, believed that the municipalities are “technically bankrupt” and that they simply do not see “those who do not want to”, a situation that “must be careful, because they are the first to socially responding to people”.
“We must look for solutions together with the government so that we can respond together to the urgent needs of the municipalities,” said the socialist mayor, pointing to the difficulties they face due to the impact of energy costs and the revision of the work prices.
According to Nuno Fonseca, securing the financial situation of the municipalities can go hand in hand with support from the European Commission and measures to curb energy and that “supply can be transferred to the regulated market, in particular in public lighting, somehow immediately what are the greatest concerns of each of the congregations can be taken care of”.
In a panel in which a dozen mayors spoke, the main complaints focused on the rise in the cost of school meals, energy and the increase in fuel.
Source: DN
