The Government will only gain if the Law on Local Public Finances is adopted, while the mayors will have more possibilities of solving the problems faced by the settlements and the residents. Such an opinion was stated by invitees to TV7 channel’s program “Politica”, IPN reports.
The head of the Parliament’s commission on economy, budget and finance Veaceslav Ionita, of the PLDM, said that if the Law on Local Public Finances comes into force on January 1, 2014, the local authorities will benefit from investments of 1 billion lei. During 23 years, the local public authorities haven’t had investment money. These financial resources shouldn’t be allocated according to preferential criteria. Moldova lacks an investment component at local level.
The law provides for the creation of local funds for solving problems encountered by villages and towns. There will be also an energy efficiency fund of about 200 million lei. Another 200 million will be collected by mayor’s offices as local taxes.
Veaceslav Ionita said that if the law takes effect, the income tax will be distributed equitably. Another problem that will be solved is related to the imposition of the property tax.
UNDP program manager Mihai Roscovan said the authorities make populist promises that are not connected with the principle of decentralization of the local authorities. About 99% of the mayors in Moldova support the Law on Local Public Finances. If the law is not passed, the mayor’s offices will continue to receive money under the influence of subjective factors.
Mayor of Cimislia town Gheorghe Raileanu said the mayor’s offices have a weak tax base. The Law on Local Public Finances should be adopted so that the mayors are able to efficiently manage the possessed financial resources.
Mayor of Capaclia Alexei Busuioc said a number of districts become centralized in order to cope with the problems. This centralization is caused by the coming legislative elections. The government wants to adopt the law and to implement it from 2015, after the elections. The current government makes the same mistake as the former Communist government. The mayor’s offices must receive the necessary financial resources directly.
The bill with amenmdnets to the Law on Local Public Finances was passed in two readings and is to be adopted in the final reading in the autumn session of Parliament so that it starts to be used from January 1, 2014. Under the law, there will be direct budgetary relations between the central authorities and the mayor’s offices and the amounts transferred to the latter will depend on the number of inhabitants of the settlements.
