Silves councillors have voted to increase the 2016 budget by taking out a bank loan for €4.6 million.
The Budget and Major Planning Options for 2016 proposal was approved by the council at the municipal assembly held on 19th November.
Next year’s budget is €36.9 million, €4.3 million more than last year with a promise that €8 million will be invested in "key works for the municipality."
The council executive explained that the increase in the budget "is justified, in the main, with the incorporation of a bank loan taken out for roughly the same amount for investment financing (i.e. €4.4 million.)"
The budget provides money for the usual essential services including the fire brigade, schools, voluntary associations, communities etc. Next year this category will receive over €1 million with the two firefighting units receiving about €295,000.
According to the council, "Silves Municipality's budget for 2016 is marked by strong planned investment of around €8 million, which involves a wide range of fundamental works for the county.
“After a period in which it was necessary to prepare technical projects and find funding solutions, the municipality of Silves can launch contracts and complete works."
All was not so easy over at Faro council where the budget was voted in with one vote, that of mayopr Rogério Bacalhau who was faced with a raft of abstentions.
Faro council announced the approval of the proposed 2016 budget of €39.1 million, despite the humiliation of eight abstentions, leaving Bacalhau the only person voting for his own budget.
There had been an argument over a cut in ‘goods and services’ whose budget was reduced in order to pay off more of the Local Economy Support Programme loan.
While not agreeing with the removal of €800,000 from the budget to pay back to the government, Bacalhau said the measure "does not solve any of the municipality's problems," but he was obliged to vote for the budget, otherwise there would not be one.
Faro’s budget is €1.5 million less than last year’s even though parish councils are to get an increase from €170,000 to €290,000.
Comments
It is highly misleading to keep luring north Europeans here to Portugal with the joke that "Portugal, just like yours, is a well run country at all levels" It isn't remotely.
Once the nightmares start getting listed and hopefully taken up to the EU maybe someone in Lisbon will begin to get a handle on the bandits doing it. And arrange compensation.
As all prospective new arrivals to Portugal from northern EU will be urged to go to the part of the website for the region they intend living in - and check what happened to those before them. Like a Portuguese Complaints Book but in reverse as the expats can be contacted for their histories - and their outcomes.
When can we expect some sort of linkage to failure? Retrospective and lasting say 20 years. So hounding the political's and chief officers families long after the principals are dead. Just an idea to make them stop and think ... is this investment really necessary? Or just showing off to the next Municipal down the road?
And whilst we are on the soapbox - what % of this budget is spent on unnecessary wages and equipment ? Superfluous functionaries and machinery whose work could be farmed out to the privates.