Alejandro Marichal alluded to the abandonment of the plenary hall by the PSOE and NC. “Urgent issues have always been discussed in this plenary session. This is what the Law establishes. It has been a real lack of respect for the plenary session and the residents of San Bartolomé de Tirajana
The General Budget of the San Bartolomé de Tirajana City Council for the year 2024 will be 98,5 million euros, exceeding the budget of the previous year by just over 2,2 million. This increase will be derived from new personnel expenses due to seniority and salary increases, and to cover price revisions in the cost of basic public services such as beach cleaning, garbage collection and maintenance of public green areas.
The Budget report details that the income that the City Council foresees from its own operations totals around 92 million, practically the same amount as in the previous budget. In that sense, for direct taxes (IBI, IAE, Vehicle Tax and Increase in the Value of Urban Land) there will be 38,7 million (39,33%); for indirect taxes (constructions, installations and works) there will be 2,5 million; those provided for by rates, public prices and others are estimated at almost 13,6 million (13,79%); From current transfers they will be slightly more than 35,2 million (35,75%) and from property income, which corresponds to the income from municipal properties and administrative concessions, the income will slightly exceed 2 million euros.
Regarding the income that the City Council will have externally, that is, from the contribution of other administrations, the total amount amounts to approximately €6.256.859. These capital transfers correspond to the nearly 5,4 million coming from the Canary Islands Municipal Financing Fund, and with the €876.466 included in the 2024 Cooperation Plan of the Cabildo de Gran Canaria to repave streets in Maspalomas and Playa del Inglés.
Regarding the expense chapters, payments to the City Council staff (735 workers) amount to just over 37,3 million euros (37,92%), and current expenses on goods and services will be almost €49.224.000. Also noteworthy as expenses are the almost 3,3 million euros of transfers that the City Council makes to other public and social entities with which it has collaboration agreements and also as scholarships or subsidies to very specific groups. This includes, for example, the €72.000 destined to subsidize the AMPAS and cover student scholarships; the €100.000 contributed to Cáritas Diocesana; the slightly more than €766.000 required to maintain social emergency aid; the €30.000 allocated to aid for the Elderly; the €16.000 required by the collaboration agreement with the Official College of Veterinarians for the application of the new Animal Protection Law; the €35.500 from the agreement with the Urban and Natural Environment Protection Agency; the €200.000 allocated to the housing agreement with the Chamber of Commerce; the €120.000 from the agreement with the Las Palmas University Foundation for the organization of the Maspalomas International Tourism Forum; the contribution of almost €522.000 made to the Association of Municipalities of the Medianías; the million euros that is contributed to the operation of the Consortium for Tourist Rehabilitation or, among others, the €37.900 that is allocated to internship agreements with different universities.
Furthermore, in the expenses chapter, an amount of €50.000 is also included as a contingency fund for unforeseen events and close to €7,9 million for real investments, which represents 7,99% of the total Budget. Noteworthy in this section of investments are the 3 million that are allocated to the conditioning and improvement of public works and infrastructure; the more than 3,6 million that will be allocated to the cleaning and repair of facades and the regeneration and urban renewal of the publicly promoted housing of El Pajar and also of the IFA Group and phases I and II of Las Llaves; the almost €610.000 that will go to the rehabilitation of parking lots and public spaces; the €100.000 allocated to the renovation of the municipality's playgrounds and, among others, the almost €221.500 for the repair of educational centers and renovations and furniture provision for daycare centers.
Without deficit and balanced
The economic-financial report of the Municipal Intervention that accompanies this draft General Budget for 2024 states that “it respects the prohibition of initial deficit” since in consolidated terms the income (a little more than 100 million) exceeds the expenses (a little more than 99,9 million). It also stands out that the income forecasts have been acted “under the principle of prudence”, since they have been made taking into account the data from the Municipal Revenue and the analysis of the budget execution for the years 2019 to 2022, without observe the collection for the year 2020 due to the exceptional situation of Covid-19, since the collection was not real due to the decrease in income due to service restrictions.
Regarding the expense chapters, said report refers to the overall increase of 2,5% experienced by City Council staff expenses compared to the previous Budget due to the salary increases stipulated by Law and seniority contributions, and also to the increase of 3,58 .2023% that experiences in general terms the credit of current expenses on goods and services due to the price reviews that were carried out in XNUMX to the contract for beach and boardwalk cleaning and waste collection services, and to the contract for the recovery, improvement, conservation and maintenance of public green areas. "The General Budget of the City Council is presented without an initial and balanced deficit (...), so that stability is guaranteed and covered - a priori - all the obligations acquired for the correct functioning of the City Council," states the report of the General Intervention of the City Council. same.
Mayor Marco Aurelio Pérez detailed the urgency and need to approve the Budget. “It is due to the recent salary increase that the central government has approved for public workers and the lack of sufficient budget allocation to face it and not start with gaps in the workers' payroll. This expenditure on the workforce is now 36,4 million and in 2024 it will be 37,4 million, the mayor announced. He also argued the budgetary urgency "in the need to deal with the updating of the different contracts for basic public services that are necessary for the proper functioning of the municipality and that will entail an increase in spending, such as taking away garbage each year." that comes to the Juan Grande plant, which will have a budget increase of about €835.000 or, among others, the collection of the municipality's garbage, which will go from costing us €9 million to €9.941.000,” he said.
Without the opposition
The Budget was submitted this Thursday to the Plenary Session of the Municipal Corporation as a matter of urgency for initial approval and was approved only by the government group and without the presence of the opposition, given that PSOE and NC decided to leave the plenary hall after They would try to leave the matter on the table without success.
“I am sorry that the opposition councilors do not want to work or participate in the functioning of this city council. The Budget will now go on public display for 15 days for the allegations and amendments to be considered,” said Marco Aurelio Pérez.
Alejandro Marichal also alluded to the abandonment of the plenary hall by the PSOE and NC. “Urgent issues have always been discussed in this plenary session. This is what the Law establishes. It has been a real lack of respect for the plenary session and the residents of San Bartolomé de Tirajana for some gentlemen who are receiving a salary as spokespersons to leave this room. It is a totally undemocratic act. We are not proposing amnesties for anyone, but rather urgent matters that are important for this municipality,” he stated.
