Municipal employees to be paid despite budget delays

No municipality employee will remain unpaid at the end of the month, despite the delayed submission of municipality budgets, a senior government official said on Thursday.

Elikkos Elia, permanent secretary at the interior ministry, gave the assurances speaking to the press after a session of the House interior committee.

To date, seven municipalities have not had their budgets approved by parliament. Nevertheless, Elia stated, all employees would get their paycheques for March.

Up until now, 13 municipalities have had their budgets approved. Another – that of Ierokipia municipality – is currently under review.

The budgets of Lefkara, Athienou and Ayia Napa are also under review. Ayia Napa’s budget was sent back as it was not balanced.

Three other municipalities – Akamas, Polis and Polemidia – have yet to even submit their balance sheets.

Elia said the reform of local government affords a transitional period during which municipalities can continue operating without having their budgets approved.

In such circumstances, the municipalities can operate on the so-called ‘twelfths’ system – where only a sum equivalent to not more than one-twelfth of the budget appropriations for the previous year may be spent each month for any chapter of the budget. This provisional appropriations system applies for a limited time only.

Earlier this week, municipalities called off the measures they had threatened last week – including halting payments – over the non-approval of their budgets.

Last week they had warned that they’d be forced to stop payments on obligations, and suspend payroll by the end of the month if their budgets remained unapproved.

The municipalities also fretted that making further payments without an approved budget would put local bodies in the position of acting illegally.

On Thursday the House interior committee also discussed a potential cash injection increase from the central government to the self-governing district organisations (EOA).

Elia said the interior ministry is open to the idea, in order to avoid these local bodies jacking up their fees for services.

As of July last year, when the new system of local government kicked in, the EOA took charge of such functions as issuing building permits, water supply and sewerage.