The Portimão City Council decided to once again lower the Municipal Property Tax (IMI) rate in the next fiscal year, from 0,40 percent to 0,39 percent, this being one of the main highlights of the municipal budget for 2024.
This is the last budget prepared with the conditions of the PAM – Municipal Adjustment Program, in force since 2016, and to alleviate the burden on families in the municipality.
The measure continues the municipal option of reducing the IMI, which began in 2016, with the rate reaching 0,45 percent, as imposed by the Municipal Support Fund (FAM), following the loan made by the Portimão City Council to settle previous debts.
Thus, next year, the amount payable by property owners of rural and urban buildings will be based on a rate of 0,39 percent, which represents a reduction of 0,01 percentage points compared to 2023.
According to Portimão City Council, this option is only possible thanks to the sustainability that the municipality has
carried out since 2013, and the decrease in IMI from 0,45 to 0,39 percent in the space of seven years implies a loss of revenue in the order of 3,2 million euros, compensated by the slack that has been allowed to the local economy , with emphasis on families with dependents, who will save around 800 thousand euros next year.
Still within the scope of this municipal tax, it was decided to increase the period of temporary exemption from paying IMI from three to five years in relation to buildings intended for personal and permanent housing, in accordance with current legislation.
«The next budget also foresees a set of immediate responses to the most recent circumstances that are already affecting or will soon affect many citizens across the board, as a result of the national and international macroeconomic framework, as well as the consequences of inflation, the recent rise in rates of interest and wars in Ukraine and the Middle East», explains the Municipality.
The municipality also clarifies that the financial sustainability policy pursued in recent times will allow the reduction of an additional 5 million euros of debt to the FAM, compared to the amount initially stipulated for this year, which will enable the Portimão City Council to escape the situation of excessive deficit already in the end of 2024, all the more so as the reduction in taxes has not jeopardized either the finances or the commitments made with regard to the payment of the expected funds.
The Portimão City Council's budget for 2024 is 86.351.500 euros, «with an even greater reduction in municipal taxes on families expected in the coming years, as a result of the end of the constraints determined by the PAM».
Comments