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November 6
Last Monday, in the last plenary session of the Municipality of Benidorm, under the guise of including it in the plenary debate as an urgent matter the PP-run council pulled out of the hat an amendment to the tax regulation No. 1, which regulates the IBI (property tax), in which the parameters will increase from 0.667 to 0.82% for urban properties, while those of a rustic nature remain at 0.60% and those with special characteristics at 1.3%.
How do we apply these increases to the reality of Benidorm? An average house will go from paying €112.74 to €191.668 and if we talk about shops and hotels, how much will this increase affect them? At the moment, a hotel with a capacity of 200 rooms that pays a rate of €7,979.20 will pay a rate of €13,564.64. If anyone thinks that this increase will not be fully reflected in the prices paid by tourists, please explain. Similarly, the hotel and restaurant sector will have to pay an average of between €800 and €1400, depending on the size of their premises.
Has anyone in the PP-run Benidorm town hall stopped to think about how this increase could affect our residents? Compromís por Benidorm believes that it will have a negative impact on the following points
- An increase in the tax burden on the citizens: A significant increase in rubbish tax and IBI means that residents will have to spend more of their income to cover these costs. This will have a negative impact on the quality of life of our population, especially those on fixed or limited incomes. A city like Benidorm, where the price of renting a house has risen by 23% in the last year, or where the average net salary can be around €1,100. An average increase of €300 per property represents a big chunk out of their income.
- Loss of purchasing power: As we have already mentioned, when local taxes increase, the purchasing power of citizens decreases and this will affect the ability of our residents to spend on other goods and services, which in turn will have a direct impact on spending in our hotels and shops.
- Reduced investment and savings: This increase in local taxes will mean that the citizens of Benidorm will have to reduce the amounts they spend on investment and savings. This could have a negative impact on long term economic growth and impoverish the population.
- Impact on housing: Compromís Benidorm believes that the IBI increase will have an impact on the housing market. Homeowners will pass this increase on to their tenants, which may affect the demand for housing and house prices in the area. An area where there is a shortage of housing due to the lack of management by the PP, and already with a 23% increase in the price of rented housing, will cause tension in the housing market, affecting the quality of life of our citizens.
- Discouragement of business investment: Increases in municipal taxes may also discourage business investment in the area. Businesses may be affected by higher operating costs, which could lead to a reduction in job creation and investment in the community, causing businesses and institutions to relocate to other communities where the tax burden is lower.
- Population displacement: If tax increases are significant, some people may choose to move to neighbouring municipalities with lower taxes. This could lead to a loss of population in the municipality and thus to a reduction in tax revenues in the long run.
In conclusion, a significant increase in the waste tax and IBI in Benidorm could have negative effects on the local economy, including a higher tax burden for citizens, a reduction in purchasing power, a reduction in private and business investment, and the possibility of population displacement. It is important for Benidorm council to carefully consider these economic effects, making management and tax coordination decisions that do not slow down the development of our society.
Is it possible? At Compromís Benidorm we believe that the quality of life of our citizens is not improved by increasing the IBI, but by allocating more resources to social programmes, i.e. those that directly affect our daily lives. With a real commitment to solve and increase the quality of life of our citizens of Benidorm, it is possible to carry out other ways of obtaining income by the town hall of Benidorm and that are also established in the regulatory law of the bases of the local regime law 07/1985 of 2 April.
There are alternatives and we can develop them at another time, but we believe that a local government that has a set of tools and information with which to develop a long-term fiscal policy must have sufficient management capacity to seek these alternatives and implement them. We do not need politicians anchored in the past, we need politicians with a broad vision, with a vision for the future and who are truly committed to improving the quality of life of the citizens of Benidorm.
Pere Beneyto
Spokesman Compromís Benidorm.
