ZMOS: Local Governments Forced to Raise Taxes and Fees Next Year

Bratislava, December 13 (TASR) - Municipalities will be forced to raise taxes and fees next year and continue to cut public services, said representatives of the Slovak Towns and Villages Association (ZMOS) on Friday, adding that the consolidation measures introduced by the government will have a further negative impact on the budgets of municipalities, including shortfalls in funding expected to reach €400 million in 2025. "We realise that it's not feasible to consolidate just by continuously raising fees every year. This means that the vast majority of municipalities are combining increased revenues with reduced expenditures," said ZMOS chairman Jozef Bozik, according to whom municipalities are reducing their expenditures by laying off employees, reducing subsidies, and limiting the services provided for the public. In addition, he stated that the approved budget will result in a shortfall of another €31 million by the end of this year. However, he said that the association understands the importance of consolidating public finances. ZMOS representatives noted that due to the poor state of the budgets of municipalities, it would be problematic to finance them through banks. At the same time, they acknowledged the importance of accessing EU funds, without which, they said, the whole state would be in recession. lin/df