Terni, Taric tariffs 2024: there is postponement, no approval. «We take risks»

29 Apr 2024 3.34pm

of SF

Could a discussion on the approval of Taric tariffs have been calm? Of course not and in fact on Monday morning – originally it was supposed to start at 8.15, the debate will start half an hour later – the third commission didn’t even get to the vote on the two items on the agenda. Reason? A last-minute change in some data due to a system error on the minimum contributions of undifferentiated waste. The protagonists at Palazzo Spada are the managing director of ASM Tiziana Buonfiglio and the general director of Auri Giuseppe Rossi, called to manage a situation that is not exactly calm. Then in the afternoon the surprise which, objectively, is quite unexpected. The item was postponed at the mayor’s request. In the middle is the deadline for the adoption of PEFs, originally set for 30 April. With Anci having asked to defer it to 30 June 2024. And so it will be.

THE INCREASE IN TARIFFS IN TERNI IN 2024: THE BREAKDOWN

Families and users

What happened? There was an immediate morning meeting which postponed the start of the third commission to 8.45. We have dealt with the topic several times in recent days – the details with the tariffs are in the links above – and the basic data is the 2024 PEF with a +2.39%. From here the debate developed starting from the words of councilor Michela Bordoni: «We worked with Asm and Auri to understand the increasing impact on Terni and the users. Two aspects: not burdening families so that they remain unchanged and increasing the variable quota on non-domestics. The objective is to be able to be virtuous together with ASM, there is collaboration on cost verification. Furthermore, we are moving towards tax evasion so as not to place the burden on those who pay. We realize – she concluded – that throughout Italy the topic is difficult. Municipalities have had disproportionate increases.” Rossi’s intervention was very technical and, technically, he tried to explain to the councilors how the tariff method works and the various preparatory steps to arrive at the PEF: «The problem this year is the value of the impact of Istat, the The automatic indexation of costs is at 14.7%”. In general, the Auri manager pointed out that «everyone underestimated the costs, in some areas of Umbria by up to 15-20%. Rebalancing is necessary over time and this is a system that exposes the real costs of the service.” For sub area 4 the original question is clear: «The starting price for the tender was too low». Also in the courtroom were the environmental manager Paolo Grigioni, his colleague from the single municipal revenue office Claudio Carbone and the sole manager of the procedure, Dr. Giulia Scosta.

TARI/TARIC: OVER 70 MAYORS RAISE THEIR VOICE. «ONLY TAX COLLECTORS, IT’S NOT GOOD»

Paoletti and Buonfiglio

«How do you decrease it?». The enigma

Some interesting ideas from Rossi: «The mayors ask us how we can reduce tariffs? Divorces – the practical example – increase because there are more marriages. The main cause is cost increases, the only way is to reduce those. But the expense for personnel is worth 60%, do you understand what it would mean to reduce this item? Do we do subcontracting? Are we working downwards on wages? I don’t know if the friends of Uil would like this”, the input was given. As if to say that he doesn’t get much out of it: «What are we going to reduce otherwise? The Auri mechanism tries to comply with the needs of operators and the need to keep tariffs low. And there is no correlation between PEF and tariffs, the latter can also be articulated with the recovery of tax evasion and further issues”. Then Buonfiglio took action, accompanied for the occasion by the ASM coach Fabio Paoletti.

AURI AND THE INCREASES OF PEF 2024-2025

Corridor and Filipponi

Patience and the flop algorithm

The number one of Asm kicked off the discussion with a joke: “I am the patient whose body temperature is measured”, in reference to the discreet pressure she is subjected to on the topic. «The Municipality of Terni essentially proposes an increase in the PEF of 2.39%, lower than the inflation rate. The manager is top for separate waste collection and we are almost at 80% collection: the rate is the lowest in Umbria and the costs shown in the PEF are exactly those incurred for the management part. The distribution of that +2.39% among the thirty categories is the result of a choice that is not totally discretionary. The Municipality’s input is to mitigate as much as possible on domestic users, tariff containment is also possible thanks to the recovery from partial or total tax evaders of around 700 thousand euros”. Well, we get to the news of the last few hours: «This morning’s delay is our fault because there was a further check also in response to requests from the councilor to contain the adjustments for the variable quota. An algorithm did not work and the number of minimum contributions recognized and already paid were overestimated by 3%. Now the error is corrected, the number of deliveries has decreased and so the quota also decreases.” In money? The total cost of the 2024 plan drops from 24 million 18 thousand euros to 23 million 638 thousand euros. Complete with an amendment presented by AP councilors and a long suspension to get to the bottom of it. Meanwhile, troubled times in the courtroom.

Rossi

The political dispute

It resumes and the spirits are anything but calm – there is even a long-distance spat between Bordoni and councilor Francesco Filipponi -, it goes on at length: «It is not usual for a political group to go and technically amend a resolution », the words of the PD group leader. “We have been notified of a change in documents, we take note and ask that it be evaluated”, the response of the AP group leader Guido Verdecchia. The one who gets to the point is Valdimiro Orsini (TMS): «Thanks to Rossi for the clarification, he recognized that if the PEF only rises by 2.39% it is thanks to the work of previous years. But the number of minimum emptyings for undifferentiated goods drops for everyone, previously it was 26 for a household with one person and now it is 18. Now there is the new proposed amendment which further decreases this figure. Citizens must know this because at the same time all this does not lead to a decrease in the fixed part of the tariff. That’s no good”. In all this the city council is at 10am, no one asks to vote for the lengthening of the session and the result is that only the AP amendment is voted on, but not the two acts (TARIC tariffs and adaptation of the municipal regulation on the same theme). It goes on for another ten minutes because Verdecchia asks Buonfiglio for further clarification: «It is a mere correction of a material error. In the documents you had, the unit with one person had 18 minimum contributions, now they are 17.4. Just a question of algorithm. The service does not change, the operators withdraw. The reduction? Consistent with the regulation and with the requests made by users, they are educated on separate waste collection.” And consequently the basic fee is reduced, while the additional fee is paid by users who exceed the number of minimum contributions (2 euros each). At the same time, all the other councilors arrive, the mayor Stefano Bandecchi and the deputy Riccardo Corridore. There are those who are perplexed by the failure to vote on the documents. Then there is room for the brawl over the opposition’s motion of no confidence in the president of the assembly Sara Francescangeli.

Catalani, Scosta and Bandecchi compared

Bandecchi: «Orsini is right». Check ‘Immediately’

In the early afternoon the discussion resumed in the council and the mayor – who at the same time asked the person responsible for the procedure for clarification several times – supported part of the input received from the councillors: «Orsini is right», the reference to the problem of minimum contributions highlighted. «But the calculations are made for the years 2021 and 2022 and a state law gives us obligations. These things should be said to the central government, we limited ourselves to doing an analysis and we have the lowest possible price increase. We can differentiate between private users and businesses, there are citizens who no longer make it to the end of the month and therefore this is the political choice. Entrepreneurs will make an effort, hoping in the future to be able to lower the tariff for everyone. I repeat, rubbish must become a resource and we will try to experiment. Now we have decided on things that have already been established. In the coming months there will be meetings with those who have already patented waste collection equipment which, ‘alone’, separate waste. People could find themselves earning money for having done well: a municipal commission will be created to analyze this aspect and overturn this mentality of the citizen who pays to have waste disposed of.” The mayor talked about a patent called ‘Subito’. Also pressing was Josè Kenny (IPT) and Filipponi again: «Contributions? We go from 26 to 17.4 and there is no tariff reduction”, the former’s attack. At the same time, a curious scene: Paoletti – in the courtroom together with the person responsible for the tariff for ASM, Alessandro Catalani – sits on the benches of the council and is forced to leave his seat after Orsini points this out. «I thought it was councilor Iapadre, I didn’t realize it», Francescangeli’s curious reply.

Catalans

Catalani enters the scene

Filipponi for his part pointed out – again in relation to the amendment – that with your “proposal the tariff change is entirely borne by domestic users”. At this point Catalani entered the scene: «For emptying we refer to the unsorted waste tubs, the service remains the same. It is essential to understand this. In this way we discourage those who do not pay attention to this precaution, otherwise those who are respectful will be penalized. The distribution between domestic and non-domestic users? Unchanged.” Endless comparison. «Speaking of Taric as a defeat for the city? I think it can be attributed to a path and not to the last step.” Orsini for his part hasn’t given up: «The incentive for separate waste collection is done by rewarding those who do it. Not like that”. At the same time, Bandecchi asks for further clarification. «That number (minimum contributions) is an index for the calculation, not how many times the operator passes. In real terms the Terni tariff has fallen because as a percentage it is lower than inflation.” Orlando Masselli (FdI) focused on something else: «How many tariff reductions have you made in addition to the existing ones? None”.

Orsini

The mayor changes the cards on the table: «Postponement». The debt

A more peaceful Bandecchi than in the morning. Shortly after 3pm the decision arrives after technicians and councilors: «There is an ASM debt of 2.5 million euros to be recovered, the problem starts from afar and there is a bit of confusion. Always said that we must put the bins back on the street, collection must be a resource. We have two days to vote – the reference is to the current deadline of April 30th to approve the tariffs, there is a possibility that the government will push the deadline to the end of June – something new. Some of the things heard are intelligent reflections: none of us are idiots and there is something non-linear.” So? «Further investigation is needed which involves a risk, a small experiment (referring to the change in the collection system) costs us 1.5 million euros. I would like not to discuss this amendment (actually the actual act). If the government changes, we will have two months to think about it. Otherwise the old rates will remain, we take responsibility for this», the idea launched. «The situation is exceptional and different, the 2.5 million cannot be recovered this year. We are climbing on slippery mirrors”, the reference to Catalani’s attempt at explanation. The green light will arrive with 22 votes in favor (majority, Pd and Orsini). Plot twist and advice over.

The 2024 tariffs for domestic users

The original tariffs for non-domestic users