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n the consultation procedure for approving the much delayed Orihuela municipal budget for 2017, C.L.A.R.O. has submitted proposals which make major criticisms of the proposed budget and call for major increases for Orihuela Costa. C.L.A.R.O’s main criticism is that the budget proposals fail to provide sufficient financial resources for the services and investments needed in Orihuela Costa. The proposed budget is discriminatory and continues the long history of using the income raised principally from taxpayers on the coast to provide greatly superior services and investments for Orihuela city. The proposed budget of €83 million is based on an increase in revenue of €8.8m compared to 2016, €5 million of which is raised directly from Orihuela Costa. The major sources of this increased income are
Wednesday, 13th - Monday 18th September 2017
BUDGET BATTLE FOR THE COAST CONTINUES a rise in the local property tax (IBI) of 7.5 percent and sale of municipal land valued at €1.6 million for investments. The coast is responsible for some 60 percent of the municipal income and gets in return only a few percentages points of expenditure. The sale of municipal land essentially located on the coast and sold for new house building is a long standing practice of the Orihuela local governments which systematically fail to use the funds for investments on the coast. The stock of municipal land on the coast is being steadily depleted and leaves insufficient land for needed investments in, for example, a new medical centre, facilities for the elderly and the young and a much needed library and cultural centre – Orihuela city has three libraries and two cultural venues to which a third will be added with the revamping of the ruined bullfighting arena.
The Popular Party/Citizens governing coalition claims that Orihuela Costa will get an extra €1.8 million for external contracts for maintenance of parks and gardens, street and pavement repairs and beaches compared to the 2016 budget. This is equal to an increase of 19 percent of the extra €9.5 million in running costs planned for 2017, nothing like the 30 percent of the ever increasing population of the coast in the total population of the municipality. To add insult to injury, the budget for street cleaning and rubbish removal costs has been reduced by €1 million compared to 2016. This is a completely cynical blow to the coast which has notorious problems of street cleaning and rubbish removal, in particular garden waste which can lie rotting on the pavements and streets for long periods of time. Equally cynical is the failure to respect
the principle, to which all parties agreed in 2012 when C.L.A.R.O. had an elected councillor, that 40 percent of investments would be directed to Orihuela Costa in recognition of the historical deficiency of investments in the coast and in recognition of the budgetary contribution of coastal residents and taxpayers.
Improvements In C.L.A.R.O’s proposals for modifications in the proposed 2017 budget it seeks extra expenditure for social services, including a day centre in the Savia care home for retired residents, extra personnel for the Playa Flamenca Town Hall to improve the efficiency of services to citizens, a reduction in the charges of the privately managed municipal sports centre, extra expenditure on essential services like street cleaning and rubbish removal, measures to reduce traffic
congestion in the area of the La Zenia roundabout and Avenida Villamartin leading to Zenia Boulevard and completion of the so-called “via parallela” the almost completed system of linked roads running parallel to the N332 which would also relieve congestion caused by the new commercial centre. The party has also insisted on pedestrian bridges over the N332 at Alameda del Mar for access to Cala Mosca and over the AP-7 between Campoamor and Lomas de Cabo Roig for which no new budgetary funds are needed since there is a builders deposit available for many years destined for this purpose. Without a pedestrian crossing, the increasing population of Lomas de Cabo Roig risk their lives using the road bridge over the motorway to access the medical centre, shops and beaches of Campoamor.
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