The report on the “2017 Local Administration Budget Execution”, published this Wednesday by the Public Finance Council and which says that the Vila Real de Santo António Council (VRSA) remains in financial collapse, is based on data that do not “reflect, in a real way, the measures to reduce the debt in progress”, assured the municipality of Vila Real.
The Chamber of VRSA released a public clarification on the results of the report, which reveals the ranking of the most indebted Chambers in the country, placing this Algarve municipality in the group of five municipalities in financial collapse, taking into account that, between 2014 and 2016, their debts were more than three times higher than their current net income.
It is precisely the period under consideration in this report that leads the Algarve Chamber to consider that the report is not adjusted to current reality. It was, moreover, at the end of 2016, that the Chamber had the green light from the Court of Auditors to access the Municipal Support Fund (FAM).
Recalling that it has been "developing a set of financial containment measures, for several years, with a view to reducing its debt", the municipality of Vila Real added that it is, "at this moment, in renegotiations with the banks to reduce the rates of interest on loans taken out, situations that other municipalities in a similar situation of Financial Sanitation have already resolved».
“Much of the debt of the VRSA municipality is made up of investment and capital expenditure. In the last 12 years alone, the municipality of VRSA has increased its assets from 15 to 200 million euros, adding value to its assets», he added.
The accounts were also affected by the multi-million euro investments made by VRSA. “In recent years, €65 million have been invested in new water, sewerage and rainwater drainage networks, €17 million in education and €20 million in healthcare. Added to these amounts are over 100 million in basic infrastructure for the municipality, such as new schools, swimming pools, the mortuary, the redevelopment of the old EN125 or the City Hall building», illustrated the municipality.
In the case of investment made in sewage, around 60 million euros, it was necessary because the executives who preceded the one of former Chamber president Luís Gomes «left everything undone», in this field. «If such amounts had not been spent on construction, currently the Portuguese state would be faced with community fines of several million euros due to breaches in environmental matters and in the treatment of effluents», they recall.
The municipality assured that "it continues to monitor its main sources of current expenditure, seeking special containment of expenditure in the areas of fuel and transport, printing, communications, public lighting, overtime and the supply of external services".
«These measures are in addition to the Financial Containment Plan of the Municipality of VRSA, in force for more than five years, which has already allowed savings of over 12 million euros, as a result of the application of a hundred transversal measures to all divisions and sectors of activity», he concluded.
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