The heads of seven regional governments in Slovakia have called on Slovakia’s state government to scrap its proposed model for financing regions and municipalities in the future through a mix of taxes, saying it will deprive local and regional governments of financial resources, the Sme daily reported.
The seven regional leaders, with only Pavol Frešo from the Bratislava Region not participating, said that if the new model is adopted they will be forced to close schools, will not be able to maintain roads in winter, and will appeal to the European Court of Justice, Sme wrote.
The presidents of the Banská Bystrica, Košice, Žilina and Nitra regions (Vladimír Manka, Zdenko Trebula, Juraj Blanár and Milan Belica respectively) said after their meeting on October 3 that if the proposal is approved by parliament that the regions would need to fight for their continued existence only ten years after they were created as part of a reform of administrative levels in Slovakia.
The joint statement said the budgets of regions would be reduced by €62 million in 2012 and that in response the regions would need to increase fees charged in social service homes, for school meals and commuters’ fares, stop repairing roads and increase the tax on motor vehicles, the SITA newswire reported. The statement also warned that co-financing of projects with EU Structural Funds might no longer be possible.
Source: Sme, SITA
Compiled by Zuzana Vilikovská from press reports
The Slovak Spectator cannot vouch for the accuracy of the information presented in its Flash News postings.
