A series of events concerning the IBI (municipal property tax) took place over a span of four days in Salobreña, causing quite a stir.

Firstly, on the 29th of last month, the Mayor announced that he must raise the IBI levied on homeowners in the town. This he announced on a Friday, saying that he would be  making a recommendation on the following Monday, at a plenary meeting of the Town Council, for the creation of a commission to investigate allegedly illegal dealings when the previous administration was in power.

According to the Mayor, Gonzalo Fernandez Pulido (PSOE), they had come across bills for 2003 which were not covered by the budget and were without authorisation, adding up to 200,000 euros. He considered that not only was this a case of irresponsibility, but that it might also constitute a crime against the Tax Office (Hacienda).

Because of this situation, he will request a loan from the Central Government of 400,000 euros, to be used exclusively to pay off suppliers and small-business creditors. The payments will be made in order of antiquity; i.e., the ones that have been outstanding the longest will be paid first, rather than basing repayment on amounts owed.

Furthermore, he said that the ‘inherited debts’ owed to the rubbish-collection company Formento Construcciones y Constratas, amounting to 12m euros, together with a further 5m owing to suppliers, have left the town coffers coughing their last.

For all the above reasons, the Mayor considers that he has no other option than to raise the municipal property tax. He also said words to the effect: Never in the history of municipal spending has so much been owed by so few to so many… and all thanks to ‘ten years of wasting’ by the previous administration.

The rise in property tax, by the way, will be from 0.65% to 0,82% of the property value per annum. However low-income families, especially with long-term unemployed living under the roof, will receive discounts.

And then, on the very same day as the plenary meeting, a court sentence is announced that the Town Hall has to return over a million euros of tax that was levied illegally on out-of-town property owners – just what the Mayor needed.

The Supreme Court of Granada decided to annul the previous mayor’s brainwave to charge non-Salobreña residents more for their property tax than property owners that actually lived in the village. Quite apart from being anti-constitutional, it was not the best selling gimmick for Salobreña real-estate sales.

Accordingly, the Town Hall now has to pay back all the ‘extra’ it charged during 2010, which was when the ex-mayor put his diabolic plan into action.

The court sentence orders the Town Hall to put back the IBI tax to 0.65%, i.e., what it was before the illegal rise.

So, the Mayor staggered into the plenary meeting, now owing 13m instead of 12m and put forward the proposal of increasing IBI, but withdrew it after three hours of haggling because he knew that the opposition, which have a majority, would sink it. He couldn’t even start a debate about raising the tax, as proposed from 0,65 to 0.82% because of a lack of consensus – the PP was outraged at this proposed increase.

So now he has to work out some kind of alliance to get it through: his party holds eight seats and the opposition collectively (PP, PA, IU & PSI) hold nine.

So, for the moment, there is no increase in the IBI.

There is one further problem that the Town Hall is dealing with; the hopelessly outdated, value, calculation system, (Catastro) which dates back to 1997. Consequently, there are many properties that are taxed at house values far below their actual price. Low catastro; low IBI income.

However, the Mayor believes with this present depression in house prices, now is the moment to get it up to date, as later it will hurt more.

Motril updated theirs and IBI payments went through the roof, so Salobreña is wary of the same happening.

On the good news front, Monday did see the approval of a move to seek a loan to pay off suppliers and small-business creditors, and not so happily for the PP, there will be a commission to investigate the allegedly wonky bills.

(News: Salobreña, Costa Tropical, Granada, Andalucia)