The Plenary of La Laguna yesterday approved the budget of the municipality for 2022, with the support of the Government group (PSOE, United can and Avante), the abstention of Citizens (Cs) and the rejection of CC, PP and the non-attached councilor Alfredo Gomez. Some accounts that, in its consolidated, which includes the City Council, autonomous bodies, Muvisa and Urbanism, amount to 192,564,069 euros, which represents an increase of 15.38%, that is, of more than 24 million. No opposition party tabled amendments, in part or in full.
“We have prepared an expansive budget for the recovery. We are once again achieving the most social in the history of this municipality, in which we have firmly opted for investments, commerce and culture as essential instruments to consolidate the recovery, ”said the mayor of the Treasury, Alejandro Marrero.
The non-attached councilor Alfredo Gómez criticized that the City Council has hired “a private company to develop the budgets”, as well as the “enormous amount of budget modifications”. And he denounced that “if they had wanted us to make contributions, they would have passed the documentation before.”
For his part, the spokesman for the Citizens group, Juan Antonio Molina, affirmed that the local government speaks of an increase in the accounts, “but it is still something that they are simply computing with the possibility that it may be increased in the future with the remnants ”, he pointed out. He also criticized that he is “doing politics through screenshots”, with aid that “does not arrive in a timely manner”, among others. He also denounced that “there is no future project to follow.” For his part, the PP spokesman, Manolo Gómez, affirmed that “we miss a greater ambition” in the budgets, which he also described as “continuists”. He valued as “excessive” the item for current expenses, which account for 40% of the accounts, while he considered that others should have more amounts, such as Historical Heritage, Commerce or Rural Development, among others.
From CC, its spokesman, Jonathan Domínguez, argued that the budget is “totally unreal” and “electoralist”, which “bases its growth on fictitious income, and on a new indebtedness”. “It is not what La Laguna needs to generate employment, to boost the economy, and to promote opportunities for those who have less,” he emphasized. He regretted the increase in Chapter II on current expenses and criticized the fact that the bulk of the budget was entrusted to an external company. From the government group, the United spokesperson can, and Social Welfare Councilor, Rubens Ascanio, pointed out that “it is not easy at all to build a budget at the time that we have had to manage”, but that, even so, “consolidates the care policy, talks about sustainable mobility with specific projects and highlights trade “and the fight against climate change, with” more than 200 million that have been requested for the development of European funds linked to the 2030 strategy ”, He pointed. He also stressed that the accounts have been built “with the direct participation of the residents, who constantly transmit their concerns and interests to us through different channels, such as the technical staff and the political team.” Meanwhile, Avante’s spokesman and Urban Planning councilor, Santiago Pérez, defended that the tax service, which studies budget projections, “at no time says that the forecasts are unrealistic,” in response to some criticism from the opposition. ; and he recalled that chapter II is “with which the services to citizens and the functioning of the administration are financed.” “It is not the same to increase it for superfluous purposes than to finance and strengthen municipal services,” he emphasized.
Alejandro Marrero replied to the opposition that the budget “has been made by the officials and political leaders of the areas” and that what was hired is “external technical advice for the technicians”, requested by them. He also explained, regarding the credit operation for 14 million, that “the Government undertakes that this City Council will end 2022 with zero debt.” He also criticized that the Government team “has not received a single proposal for improvement” to the budget, although he pointed out that it incorporates some previous motions presented by Cs.
The session concluded with a minute of silence for the death of Hugo de Armas, who, at the beginning of his term, was for a time a trusted personal of the United can group.
