The Olhão council budget for 2016 will be spent ‘on priority areas’ as defined by the executive led by António Pina, with education, sport, youth culture and social action heading the list.
The proposed budget and key planning options for 2016 were presented by the mayor and were approved by a majority at the last council meeting held on 29 October.
It’s not over yet, the full Olhão assembly needs to approved the budget at a meeting later this month.
Examples of some of the project work to be carried out in the city is the installation of a skate park, the redevelopment of the underpass at the site of the Berlin Wall (which Infraestrutura de Portugal should be paying for), the installation of air conditioning in Moncarapacho school, the redevelopment of certain public spaces, the purchase of two buses, the repair of roads and the replacement of the synthetic turf at the Municipal Stadium.
The fake turf and buses expenditure items have come up before when in September, Pina wanted to take out a loan of €1.1 million "to make various improvements in the county," including resurfacing the football pitch and buying the buses.
There are more projects being prepared and looked at, but money is tight -
"In the event of an increase in revenues, which could only happen with more effective monitoring and collection of fees, licenses and taxes, as well as through the sale of real estate and renting of public spaces, or by taking out medium/long term loans, will other investments be carried out," according to today’s statement.
There are a hundred or more projects competing for municipal funds and it is hoped that the most controversial one, the continuation of the machine-cut paving slabs up the cobbled shopping streets to the church square, will not go ahead on grounds of cost, if not on grounds of poor taste.
There also is the question of Pina's erection, a soaring 'mirador' planned for the centre of the historic Barreta area as a tribute to his leadership, but hopefully this too will fall by the wayside as few see the point of grandiose projects when there are so many other ways to spend ratepayers' funds.
See also: http://www.algarvedailynews.com/news/6692-olhao-council-wants-20-year-bank-loan-for-astro-turf
