01 May 2024, 09:26
2 min read
PALERMO – The Tari will increase but the people of Palermo will only notice it at the end of the year. The city council launches the new waste tax rates of the Sicilian capital valid for 2024 and, as widely announced, there is an increase in prices of 12 million euros.
Money that will be used above all to pay for the increase in some costs, linked to inflation, and which will weigh partly on families and businesses and two million on tourists.
Oxygen for Rap
At the end of a long and troubled session, Sala Martorana gives the green light to PEF which also gives oxygen back to Rap: the investee company, with its accounts perpetually in the red, is waiting to unblock hiring but above all it needs more money to guarantee services.
Motivation that pushed the city councilors to a small one tour de force: the two-month extension for tariffs had arrived from Rome but the center-right still put its foot on the accelerator to throw a lifesaver to the former municipal company.
How much will the Tari cost
Let’s go to the numbers. The maneuver predicts that the environmental hygiene service in Palermo will cost 138 million euros this year: 115 will go to the RAP, 11 for the Municipality and Srr and 12 will cover inflation. But where will the money come from?
Seven million will be covered with state transfers as reimbursement for schools, two will be taken from the tourist tax paid by tourists (1.4 million more collections are expected in 2024 and 600 thousand euros will be subject to a future change) . 129 million remain, five more than in 2023, which will be spread two-thirds on families and one-third on companies.
An average increase of 4-5% which taxpayers will only notice at the end of the payment, given that the deposit will now be paid with the old rates.
No to the double increase
The idea of an increase in the tourist tax has also been set aside for the moment: a double increase in taxes, also considering the Tari one, would have been difficult for the centre-right to digest, especially on the eve of the elections.
Hence the idea of drawing the 2 million from the expected greater tourist flows, postponing the upward adjustment of the quotas until next year, when the millions to be drawn will become 3.
Slim majority
In the end the positive vote arrived late in the evening and not without difficulty for the majority: there were just 15 yes votes, with 4 against and one abstention. A presence in the Chamber, that of the opposition, is crucial for maintaining the quorum.
Published on
01 May 2024, 09:26
