The Association of Self -Governing Region of Slovakia (SK8) is fundamentally disagreed with the proposal of the Government of the Slovak Republic for a further reduction of the share of the income tax of natural persons pointed to budgets of higher territorial units (HTUs). According to SK8, the planned reduction in the share of the income tax (FO), which is one of the government measures for the consolidation of public finances, will directly threaten the ability of self -governing regions to provide services for residents and development of the regions, the Association reported on Thursday.
- SK8 does not agree with the reduction of the share of taxes for self -government.
- Consolidation directly threatens the services and development of regions.
- The share of the HTU tax will fall from 29.5% to 28.6%.
- Municipalities must reduce expenditure by EUR 19.7 million.
- The debate on the financing of social services is still missing.
“The municipalities have been a shortened share in the income tax for the second consecutive year. We understand that it is necessary to consolidate, but not at the expense of self -governments,” The Association SK8 has been introduced. The share of the FO income tax is dropped from the current 29.5 % to 28.6 %. Specifically, EUR 19.7 million must be saved by reducing expenditure. According to SK8, the state will keep an additional EUR 29.7 million from a higher tax yield. On the contrary, only EUR 8.6 million will come back to the region as compensation for the valorisation of salaries in education.
Finance Minister Ladislav Kamenický (Smer-SD) when introducing the third package of consolidation measures on Tuesday (9 September) recalled that the state this year He sent extra € 100 million to municipalities to compensate for one -off remuneration for employees, introduced earlier payment of shares on the beginning of the month, It made it possible to use a reserve fund for current expenses and, for example, for example, forgot the HTU debts of EUR 20 million.
SK8 considers it unacceptable that representatives of the Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic adopted representatives of self -governing regions only after the consolidation material was publicly presented at a press conference. InAt the same time, the crucial issues remain unresolved – for example, a long -term unsustainable model of social services financing that provides regionsbut the cost of them increases every year without reasonable compensation by the state.
The Association stressed that regions have long proved that they manage responsibly and efficiently. Unlike the state, they must not create a deficit – the law forces them to manage balance. “However, instead of the awarding of this responsibility, there is further cut of their tax income,” supplied the association. According to SK8, further reduction of resources for the HTUs without any discussion will mean less quality schools, less repaired roads and weaker availability of social services.
