The items scheduled for today relating to the Manilva Town Hall budget for the 2024 financial year have been withdrawn. The lack of support, mainly due to the disagreements that arose yesterday over the refuse tax, was the trigger for the municipal comptroller and the financial services to advise that this document could not be presented to the council meeting.
The budget that was due to be presented today already included income for this financial year of 1,300,000 euros from the refuse tax charged to residents, a tax that did not receive sufficient support yesterday to be put into effect.
The municipal budget is the document that explains how the municipality’s public money is managed over the course of a year. The budget must be approved before 31 December of the previous year. That is, the 2025 budget would have to be approved in December 2024; if not, it is automatically extended.
Opposition groups angry
The three opposition groups, VOX, PSOE and Compromiso, have expressed their anger at the withdrawal of this item from the ordinary meeting scheduled for today, which was announced on the municipal social media channels at 18:19 yesterday with no change to the various items on the agenda, so they were taken by surprise by the decision to withdraw it.
This important document, which governs the different budget allocations each department works with, took a great deal of time to prepare. The opposition groups had to review and study it in just a few days, only for it to be removed from the agenda without any chance to debate it at the council meeting that everyone had prepared for. They criticised the lack of transparency and of time to debate a document of such importance for the municipality.
Town Hall says services will be maintained
As a result, Manilva Town Hall is forced to continue with the extended 2023 budget. The mayor, José Manuel Fernández, has stated that the necessary steps will be taken to safeguard the municipal accounts and guarantee the provision of public services.
