“The M5S of Latina voted against this budget because it considers it a negative document for our city. The capital is governed by an administration without vision and courage, an essential condition for guiding it towards recovery”.
These are the words of councilor Maria Grazia Ciolfi.
“A budget crippled due to wrong choices: the worst that could have been expected from an administration that had presented itself as the only way to bring Latina back to the dignity of the capital city, restoring decorum, cleanliness, safety and an attractive marina that functioned as a driving force for the economy. To date, with such a rigid budget document, we are far from the fairy tale told during the election campaign. Added to this is once again a majority that is reticent in comparison, elusive in its responses and with a propensity to shut the opposition’s mouth”.
“The most embarrassing situation has emerged regarding the management of this administration carrying forward with ABC – comments Maria Grazia Ciolfi, M5S group leader – position that I tried to clarify today during the Council, amidst many difficulties, from the censorship received to the questions I intended to ask for further information, which President Tiero considered excessive, to the responses not received from the Services, silenced by Councilor Nasti. Going into detail, while the competent councilor and councilors are incensed by claiming to pay the current creditors in 27 days, from the balance sheet it emerges that the only creditor paid late is precisely the subsidiary of the services relating to the Common Goods. In fact, it appears to be a creditor of 3.6 million in total, of which 2.7 million for overdue invoices for the period October-December 2023. To my request today in the Council as to the reason for this delay with a payment made at a moment’s notice and the balance on time of only 10% of the debt, the Councilor reported a telephone message that had arrived at that moment from the environmental service certifying the payment of part of the debt, but without specifying when it had been made. It is clear from the documents that ABC had not been paid at least until the end of March, in particular in protocol note no. 48390 of 19 March 2024, reported in Annex F1 of the financial statements, the environment service confirms that on that date there was still a credit for issued invoices of 2,699,772.66 euros. We must tell the citizens – urges the five-star councilor – because a delay of 5 months in the payment of millions of euros has an enormous impact on the quality of the services that ABC provides: while on the one hand the administration deprives ABC of lifeblood, on the other it brings forward the narrative that the special company doesn’t work.
Just as we must tell the citizens that while for ABC the money comes out slowly, and the explanation for the delay was that the treasury has been closed since 10 December, the Municipality paid immediately on 31 December the transaction of 6 million euros for the Latina Ambiente, generating further off-balance sheet debt. Political choices of this administration which must assume responsibility towards all citizens, first and foremost their voters.
Regarding the accounting analysis of the budget document, there are two major critical issues that Councilor Nasti herself declared: the reduced capacity of the organization to collect taxes and the enormous impact of off-balance sheet debts.
“As regards off-balance sheet debts – continues the parent company of the M5S – I need to crystallize the political responsibility that is at the basis of their formation: it is clear that these are debts dating back to previous centre-right administrations, largely derived from sentences be judged. Consequence of serious errors by that political party, the same one that governs the city today, which, net of debts avoided by the Coletta administration, still weigh on the institution’s budget. These episodes are impossible to defend both politically and legally.”
“With regards to the collection capacity, I believe it is appropriate to criticize the Administration’s actions but, at the same time, also suggest a change of direction. The waste tax assessment (TARI) was launched across the board, but with too much superficiality: errors in the calculations, incorrect assessments, taxes inconsistent with the number of members of the family unit, changes of residence not registered. But to this is added the inability of administrative management: citizens who try to contest the administration’s errors are faced with certified certified e-mails sent which are not read, it is not possible to book an appointment with the office online, it is not It is possible to arrange it in person to be able to demonstrate that you are up to date with your taxes and to contest incorrect assessments received. A disaster that goes hand in hand with the drift of the building amnesty practices: the office is seriously understaffed and the few processed practices are unable to be collected. All of this – continues Ciolfi – goes hand in hand with the 3.6 million euros of credits claimed and not collected by the Municipality towards Acqua Latina. A company that provides, in my opinion and without fear of contradiction, a poor service burdened by frequent interruptions, by old and insufficient purifiers, with the rates on the bill being among the highest in Italy.
In this budget – he concludes – there are 9 million euros taken from the pockets of citizens during the commissioner’s administration in which the current budget councilor Nasti held the role of sub-commissioner. What were those 9 million used for? Security, judging by the gunshots fired in the center a few days ago, has not benefited, nor has urban decorum, the state of which is there for all to see. Do we want to talk about the Navy? To date, the tender for the maintenance of the walkways, for example, has no known time horizons, as well as anything not planned by this administration, starting with culture, which has made national headlines due to the terrible image achieved with the candidacy as city of culture”.
