The Albufeira council socialists today accused the mayor of 'having a tantrum' when rejecting a proposal from a socialist councilor to pay off the government Support Programme for the Local Economy loan of €16 million.
The proposal was rejected by the mayor at a meeting on Wednesday. Carlos Silva e Sousa said that the intention of the socialist councilor Fernando Anastácio simply was was antagonise him on a matter that was being dealt with.
The mayor said that he already had asked council staff "to analyse and see how far they could go" in paying off the loan.
The financial projection for Albufeira council is for a net surplus of around €25 million at theb year end and the socialists want to make sure that the government loan is paid off, that next year council taxes are reduced accordingly and that investment is made in the council area with the remaining 2014 surplus.
The mayor was not happy and issued a press release on a matter that may best have been dealt with internally, commenting that Anastácio had put politics “above the interests of citizens."
The council already had identified that it will end the year with cash reserves of some €36 million and commitments of €11 million, figures that led the socialists to push for early repayment of the €16 million emergency loan.
At the heated Wednesday meeting, Anastácio questioning the reasons that led to the rejection of his proposal for early repayment. The socialist councillor concluded that he had committed some sort of sin by bringing up the subject before the detailed financial report had been received from council staff.
Saying that the mayor Carlos Silva e Sousa "had what one might call 'a tantrum'" the councillors now will just have to wait until the mayor is good and ready to discuss the matter which is on the agenda for a forthcoming council meeting.
Comments
The Camara needed the money at the time to get out of severe cash flow problems, since which it has stopped investment and put up any taxes that it could.
Result: (similar to Loule) financial surplus which it can now use to pay off loans, reduce taxes next year and maybe for once stop ripping off its domestic water customers
I am sure that there are Câmaras who need this money far more than Albufeira does, and perhaps the government will demand it back.