A study by the FMRM considers these figures as the impact of the measures applied by local entities to alleviate the damage to merchants and hoteliers during Covid
The Federation of Municipalities of the Region of Murcia, FMRM, held today the Executive Commission meeting, of which 10 mayors of the region are members, chaired by María Dolores Muñoz, representative of the entity and mayor of Bullas.
The councillors of Aledo, Beniel, Caravaca, Cieza, Lorca, Molina, San Pedro del Pinatar, Úlea and Los Alcázares, assisted by the Secretary General of the federation, have discussed issues of interest such as the proposals, on the one hand, of the Commission for Financing, Competences and Local Finance on recommendations to the town councils for the application of measures to the Commerce and Hospitality sectors, and on the other hand, the request to the regional government for an extension of the deadline for the execution and justification of the subsidies granted by the CARM in recent years to the town councils.
In addition, the president of the FMRM has highlighted in her report some of the actions that the federation has been carrying out since the last Executive Commission meeting. The main one is related to the European funds framed in two projects in which the municipalities may participate, directly or through the CARM, and for which the Federation of Municipalities may be the coordinator of the projects to obtain said funds through advice in order to obtain the highest possible percentage of these aids for their execution.
Also, in the agenda item for questions and proposals, the Federation has put on the table the creation of a Sectoral Working Commission on Depopulation, and one dedicated exclusively to Large Municipalities, to focus primarily on populations with large extensions. In addition, the commission has proposed extending the deadline for contracting the works corresponding to alleviating the damage caused by the Dana of September 2019. Therefore, the FMRM will forward this request to the Government of Spain.
Regarding the proposal document on aid or recommendations for merchants and hoteliers, sectors that have undoubtedly been severely affected during this social and health crisis, it has been approved unanimously. This document focuses on 4 axes, the first refers to the political will, which is undoubtedly that of the mayors to attend to these sectors, as they are demonstrating, since according to the FMRM study the economic impact on the municipalities on merchants and hoteliers exceeds 10 million euros. The second axis deals with legal limits, since there are local taxes that are mandatory for the councillors to comply with, so they are impossible to exonerate, such as the Property Tax (IBI) and the Economic Activities Tax (IAE).
The third consists of voluntary actions that the FMRM recommends to mayors to adopt in those matters in which their application is at the discretion of the city council, as well as the line of direct financial aid that can also be proposed at certain times, these being the most effective.
Finally, all local entities are obliged to maintain budgetary stability, which, although the delay in fiscal rules allows us to use surpluses to contribute to the benefit of the aforementioned groups, not all municipalities have such surpluses, and furthermore this temporary deviation cannot jeopardize fiscal sustainability in the medium term.
