Palma budget for 2013 down by 20.9 mln euro

07/11/2012 00:00

Palma.Palma City Council confirmed yesterday that the 2013 municipal budget will be just under 364 million euros, 20 million less than this year.
Mayor Mateo Isern said that the Council is not investing any money in new projects as its main aim now is to settle previous debts and pay off projects which were contracted in previous terms of office of the City Council.

Isern nevertheless gave assurances that he would keep the Council's commitment to public services in spite of savings which will be made next year, but this has meant optimising costs. What this essentially means, said Isern is that the Council will still be providing the same services with just a quarter of the income that it might have expected in previous terms of office.

The Mayor predicted that the City Council will be able to pay off 36.98 million euros worth of debt compared to 34.38 million this year, a good sign of financial solvency. Isern said that with regard to the 363.96 million euros of income which is expected in 2013, he felt it was better for Palma to spend less rather than try and increase income from means such as business taxation. Analysing the City Council's budget according to department, Social Welfare will get 8.08% less in 2013. Citizen Safety is the area to which most funds have been allocated (21.5% of the total spend), followed by Cleaning % Environment (13.2%), Transport (11%).