The mayor, Juan José Cánovas, has announced the approval of measures by the Ministry of Finance that opened on Wednesday the deadline for municipalities in financial risk can benefit from various support measures, which will allow, in the case of Totana , the refinancing of about 66 million euros of the total municipal debt.
The first mayor made this announcement in the public appearance that he made before the media on the occasion of the balance of the 100 days of management of the municipal government, which develops Ganar Totana-IU alone, in the City Council.
Until next October 22, the consistories in this extreme financial situation, such as Totana, with a debt of approximately 99 million euros as predicted by the mayor, may request improvements in the financial conditions of loans linked to Funding for Local Entities.
The measures include, in particular, the possibility of choosing to group all the loans formalized under the compartments of the Fund of Financing to Local Entities into a single loan, thus improving the financial conditions in the repayment and grace periods.
Under these measures recently approved by the Delegate Commission of the Government for Economic Affairs of the Ministry of Finance, local entities will see the conditions of the loans softened and lengthened, interest rates being severely cut to the local beneficiary corporations.
As explained by the mayor, the current advances set by the Ministry will be unified, as of December 31, 2018, redoing a single loan that will be refinanced to ten years, with a fixed interest of 0.87%, and a lack of payment until December 31, 2022.
The Totana councilor informed that this measure involves updating the Adjustment Plan by the plenary before the date indicated on October 22, in an extraordinary session to be held;
and pointed out that its application can be an "important revulsion" for the battered municipal finances.
In addition, he described the measure as "great relief and an oxygen measure" and called it "great hope" for the upcoming municipal corporations, accompanied by the measures included in the Adjustment Plan.
The mayor has expressed his satisfaction with this line of measures explaining that "this situation is the result of previous work that has been done with the Ministry of Finance since ten days after the municipal elections and after the approvals made by the plenary in July, whose results bear fruit now, "he said.
100 days to lay the foundation
The mayor, accompanied by the other five councilors of his group that make up the municipal government, stressed that in these 100 days the bases have been laid and channeled the roadmap of municipal management, which went through setting the pillars of economic policy -financial, with the approval of the 2019 budget, adherence to adjustment plans in the face of possible judgments and the aforementioned steps to reach a debt extension agreement.
In addition, he stressed that, at this time, the policy of political participation has been encouraged by promoting the celebration of Board of Spokesmen and Working Tables, that of Urban Planning has been held and those of the Treasury and Environment will be convened shortly;
and citizen participation through "actions and gestures of dialogue, transparency and closeness, with a vision of present and future".
Juan José Cánovas meant the "new mood and institutional loyalty" of the Government of Totana with the Public Administrations to work for the general interest of citizens, despite political and economic conditions.
In this regard, he acknowledged the delay of some future projects that affect the municipality in its relationship with the Autonomous Community due to the conditions caused by the delay in the configuration of the regional government;
but, on the contrary, he highlighted the good relations and results obtained with the representatives of the State Administration, in this case, Mancomunidad de Canales del Taibilla or Confederación Hidrográfica del Segura.
He advanced some of the projects in which the government team will emphasize its management, such as the pedestrianization of an important part of the Plaza de la Constitución with the aim of looking for a space that gives prominence to pedestrians and people with reduced mobility in front of the vehicles.
In this regard, he also referred to other decisions that will have the management accent in the coming months, such as the approval of the General Plan of Municipal Planning, the promotion of the industrial estate "El Saladar", quality employment, guarantee of water for the primary sector and the maintenance of social and cultural programs.
Finally, he asked the citizens for patience because, he said, "the idea of ​​improving the quality of life of neighbors is very clear, but we must save the conditions to carry out the road."
