The Santa Cruz City Council reached a decision yesterday to write off the debt owed to Emmasa since 2012. Following a ruling from the Superior Court of Justice of the Canary Islands, the council was mandated to compensate the public firm for the delay in implementing the Consumer Price Index (CPI) adjustment in the rates associated with residents’ usage.
The Councillor for the Treasury, José Alberto Díaz Estébanez, declared in the plenary session that the council has reached a “fair” settlement with Emmasa, which covers “the outstanding balance due to the company for the failure to apply the water price increase to residents over many years.”
In this context, the mayor clarified that “due to several emergency situations encountered by the council since 2008, the water tariff for residents was not raised in line with the CPI, consequently causing the company to miss out on this increase, which now totals approximately 23 million. Residents have refrained from paying this sum on their bills, temporarily.”
Nonetheless, following multiple disputes between Emmasa and the council, “it has been concluded that the debt must be settled; therefore, a reduction of around 13 million euros has been agreed upon, resulting in a saving of 9 million for residents. The agreement facilitates repayment of the amount owed in a structured manner, meaning that we will now contribute 3.8 million, as per the treasury’s remaining balance, and until the contract concludes in 2030, 1.5 million will be paid yearly until the total is cleared.”
Estébanez detailed this agreement as stemming from budget modification request P-3/2024, which totals 5.5 million to address various expenditures, including the 3.8 million designated for settling the debt with Emmasa. This modification received majority approval from the groups, apart from the PSOE, which voted against it. In this context, the socialist spokesperson, Patricia Hernández, remarked that “this agreement had already been finalised during the last term, as we highlighted, and it simply means funds are flowing in from one source and flowing out to another.”
Hernández added that “it is an extrajudicial agreement in which they commit to refund the tariff that had been improperly charged in exchange for an increase in the water rate. They aim to use the budget to reimburse what was collected improperly,” she emphasised.
In response, the councillor for Public Services, Carlos Tarife, affirmed that “no funds are being mishandled, but the PSOE is unhappy that Sacyr is honouring the agreement and returning the fee of 3.2 million each month, something that others previously did in reverse. Now, an excellent arrangement has been established for the locals, which will also lead to agreements to develop the water infrastructure plan.”
URBAN PLANNING MANAGEMENT
Furthermore, the plenary session sanctioned another budget modification to allocate 1.3 million euros from Urban Planning Management to the council, with this amount sourced from funds financed through Municipal Land Heritage, intended for actions aimed at renovating housing (ARRUs) that the council is required to implement.
This housing rehabilitation, primarily centred on the Juan XXIII neighbourhood of Ofra, also encompassed another unanimously approved motion. The Councillor for Housing, Belén Mesa, secured plenary backing to solicit a new framework agreement from the Government of Spain that facilitates the replacement or refurbishment of these blocks, “in a critical state, housing approximately 500 families, and where no enhancements have ever been made.” The programme aimed at encouraging urban regeneration and renewal is being revitalised, with the mayor announcing that “a report on the homes is currently in progress, scheduled for completion in October, to assess the required improvements in the blocks, provided that the residents coalesce as a community.”
