Bozik: Local Authorities Will Lose €591 million Next Year

Bratislava, 13 November (TASR) - Local authorities will lose €591 million next year due to consolidation and tax bonuses, with €291 million caused by the second and third consolidations and €300 million by tax bonuses, Slovak Towns and Villages Association (ZMOS) chairman Jozef Bozik announced at a briefing on Thursday. The association's presidium discussed the issue of financing towns and municipalities in Slovakia. "Tax revenues for 2026 will be almost €2.5 billion, and we also have quantified measures which, if they weren't adopted, would meant that actual incomes, income tax revenues, would be €2.732 billion. If we also take into account consolidation, or rather the tax bonus, which has been in effect here continuously since 1 January 2023, even though it was reduced this year and will be reduced again next year, it still represents €300 million, so income tax revenues without consolidation and the tax bonus would be higher than €3 billion," he said. However, according to the ZMOS chairman, the truth is that revenues from shared taxes will be higher next year than this year due to direct decisions by local authorities, to the tune of €137 million. "These are the starting points that local authorities are working with, with towns and municipalities currently approving their budgets. We must approve all town and municipal budgets by 21 November to avoid the application of the debt brake. This would cause major problems for every single town and village," added the ZMOS head. am/df