Measure goes late, since much of the slice is not recoverable. Without wanting to wait for the central government, there are already those who have given hands to work
Many Italian municipalities are facing difficulties in addressing current expenses. Currently, 15% to 18% of more than 7,800 Italian municipalities have some kind of financial difficulty, according to Alessandro Canelli, mayor of Novara and president of the Local Finance and Economics Institute of the National Association of Italian Municipalities (Anci), who spoke to.
To solve the problem, Italy Finance Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti requested the creation of an agency dedicated to helping cities recover pending taxes and delay rates.
“Effective debt collection management will not just relieve financial pressure on local governments,” said the minister, who points out the need to strengthen the “ability to respond to citizens’ needs.”
And this remains true despite recent European Union funds that predict investment in municipalities.
Among taxes, fees and unpaid fines, cities have received a total of 25 billion euros that should have entered the coffers of the Italian tax authority, Ader, on which the government intends to implement a reform. The problem is that only six billion euros, just over a fifth of the value, is considered recoverable, as many of the fines have prescribed and some cases the debtor even died.
Alessandro Canelli says that many cities in Italy resort to Ader to get help in collection of late payments, but the agency prioritizes cases of great obligations to the public purse: “The agency works to recover large and substantial debts.” In the same vein, Giorgetti notes that Ader did not record any “significant increase in collection” due to “the highly fragmented nature” of the “modest sums” recovery process in each case, making it “anti-economic”.
Lorenzo Codogno, a former Italian Treasury employee, ensures that “if there are major problems at the local level, the government needs to intervene and pay, to maintain the minimum service levels required.” “The government is saying the following: ‘Instead of asking us money, it is best to charge taxes and raise other amounts they can charge. If they do not, we help,” Codgno simplifies.
As for current debtors, the government of Italy is considering giving more autonomy to cities, with which they can make agreements, in order to encourage the payment of debts in question, many of them originated by fines related to garbage collection or traffic.
Alessandro Canelli, to the same source, said that “there is a strong correlation between the low performance of tax collection and the municipal financial crisis.” Indeed, and according to data from Banco de Italy, between 2011 and 2022 there were almost 300 Italian cities in non -compliance with their financial obligations.
But not all cities are waiting for the central government to solve the problem. Turin, one of Italy’s richest cities, has already found his own way of responding to the problem, creating his own collection agency. It also approved measures that configure sanctions that exceed 50 thousand euros in municipal taxes that have not yet been paid by local companies and that ultimately imply loss of operating license, unless they comply with a payment plan, which can be paid in a period of six years.
From September, some of these businesses may face harsh sanctions, including the loss of license to operate. To avoid you will have to agree and comply with the plan outlined by the municipality.
“Everyone was truly surprised,” admitted Turin’s mayor Stefano Lo Russo. Despite understanding that it is an “extreme” measure, it recognizes that it is important to pass the message: “have to pay”.
