Vila Real de Santo António City Council will have a Municipal Budget for 2019 of 39,1 million euros, focused on cleaning up the municipality's accounts.
This year, the VRSA budget will be focused "on reducing the municipal debt and rebalancing accounts, presenting real revenues for expenses that are intended to be controlled and rigorous", announced the Vila Real Chamber.
The document was approved on December 20 by the Municipal Assembly of VRSA, in a session in which the PS participated under protest. In the end, the document passed with the casting vote of the AM president, as he received 12 votes in favor and as many against.
The opposition of the socialists was linked to the number of items on the agenda, at a meeting where the generalized increase in taxes was to be voted, a measure linked to the difficult financial situation of the municipality. In September, the municipality launched a Financial Balance Plan, after having seen the funds from the Municipal Support Fund (FAM) suspended, a public financing line that he had used years before to face the large debt he had.
For Conceição Cabrita, Mayor of VRSA, «this is an extremely realistic budget and the most supervised and supervised ever by a number of entities, including the monitoring committee of the Municipal Support Fund (FAM) , to which the municipality joined in 2016».
On the other hand, «it is a document that allows the settlement of the commitments already assumed and that seeks to maximize revenue and reduce expenditure, circumstances that will allow the municipality to receive the third tranche of the FAM and proceed with the revision of the Adjustment Plan Municipal (PAM)”, added, for its part, the Chamber of VRSA.
“We want, above all, to stabilize the inherited debt and recover the credibility of the City Council, avoiding, however, social disruptions”, continues Conceição Cabrita.
This slimming scheme leads to the year 2019 beginning «with new regulations in the social action sector, which will make the allocation of support even more rigorous, while maintaining the maintenance of aid to the most disadvantaged groups and households family members in a situation of need'.
A new policy of support to the associative movement, clubs and local entities will also be carried out, “which establishes clear criteria to increase transparency and equity in the allocation of funds”.
Despite the control over the accounts, the Chamber says that education will continue to be a priority, "while helping with meals, school transport, human resources, extracurricular activities and maintenance and upgrading of the school park will continue."
And there will also be investment, which will be focused on "completing the requalification work of the waterfront in Monte Gordo – namely in the rehabilitation of green areas -, in the completion of the requalification of the north wing of the Municipal Market and in the expansion of the Municipal Cemetery of VRSA».
«Still with regard to investment, the municipality is making efforts to capture new projects, such as the construction of the Pousada de Portugal de VRSA or the opening of the Hotel Guadiana», concluded the Chamber of VRSA.
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