The Figueres City Council has closed the 2023 liquidation with a negative balance of 800,000 euros and will be forced to face a financial restructuring plan until 2027. In an emergency press conference, the mayor, Jordi Masquef, explained that the situation It is “delicate and complex” and will force them to “roll up their sleeves” although it has ruled out that planned investments will have to be cut.
Masquef has explained that since the remainder is negative, the “hole” is even bigger because it will be necessary to face, from the 2024 accounts, pending invoices worth 2.4 million euros.
The mayor has also said that they already warned that it was “impossible” for the planned income and expenses to balance without raising taxes.
It also points to the 930,000 euros budgeted for Dalí’s birthplace or the 1.5 million increase in the garbage rate that was not executed.
In addition, there are bills such as 700,000 euros for electricity supply not foreseen due to the price increase, 250,000 for IT or 553,000 euros for the regional landfill between October and December for “badly calculated” amounts.
“As head of the opposition, I repeated it ad nauseam in the previous government,” Masquef said during the press conference.
The mayor has said that he warned that the outgoing government would pay for the imbalances in the 2023 elections and has attributed the situation to poor “planning” of the accounts and “unrealistic execution.”
“The income was impossible to meet because taxes were not increased, there were unbudgeted invoices…. A heavy and foreign backpack that we will have to carry in the next three years and that will force us to take measures that we do not like,” he assured.
In figures, Masquef – accompanied by government councilors – has detailed that the initial income budget for 2023 was 70.8 million euros, almost 9% more than in 2022. However, once settled, the income has was 67.5 million and expenses were 68.2 million.
This imbalance of almost 800,000 euros (719,057 euros) rises to negative 3.9 million if the adjustments established by the European Union are applied regarding the accounting for income or subsidies not received, among others.
The settlement also confirms that the budget stability law is not complied with because there is a negative budget result of -3.8 million euros and neither is the spending rule, which has risen by 15.88% when the limit is set at 3%.
Masquef also recalled that the Figueres City Council had been without a negative surplus for years, although between 2021 and 2022 it was already at “minimums” with 500,000 and 600,000 euros, respectively. In 2018, however, it stood at 2.5 million; in 2019 at 2.1 million and in 2020 at 3.2 million.
Regarding the sanitation plan, the mayor has assured that they are required by law and that it will be finalized “as soon as possible.” “Now we are under the supervision of the Generalitat, which is analyzing the accounts and, as soon as we have a response, we will take it to the plenary session to approve it,” he said.
However, Masquef has ruled out having to make adjustments to the planned investments or increase taxes. “It would be the last resort,” she insisted. What he has admitted is that the different council departments will be resentful because they will have to adjust as much as possible to face the 2023 bills that will have to be paid from 2024. The mayor has said that they have been working for months to try to stop the coup . “We are doing an important tracking of complementary funding sources and being more efficient in collection,” he said.
The first reactions at the emergency press conference have not been long in coming. The former vice mayor of the previous government, Pere Casellas, responded in a tweet that “you have to come to City Hall crying” and that “everyone” has had to manage deficits. “Without going any further, in 2019 we found one of 800,000 of expenditure by the Junts government for Figueres not recorded,” he said.
Regarding the expected income from the opening of Dalí’s birthplace, Casellas added that they had already requested the dismissal of “whoever made the decision to delay the opening” and “they did not do so.” “Now, shouldering the responsibility is unacceptable,” she remarked.
