The report of the Municipality of Ravenna, quietly discussed last Tuesday in the City Council, ritually approved by the majority and equally rejected by the opposition, has instead produced extraordinary results which belie the many rhetorics about cash problems and the scarcity of financial resources, from which the refrain of “there is no money”. The same councilor Livia Molducci, presenting the document of the de Pascale Council, communicated, in summary, the following disappointments: “During 2023, in addition to the exceptional atmospheric phenomena suffered by our territory, floods and storms, we felt the effects of the difficulties resulting from inflation, the increase in energy costs, the costs of materials, and consequently also of all the services that the Municipality provides to the citizens. There has been a sharp reduction in state transfers, which have largely decreased. A perfect storm with decreasing resources”. The data in the report (which, due to a mix-up, I was only able to briefly anticipate in the Council) demonstrates the exact opposite. Given that in semi-century-old memory the revenues and expenses of the Municipality of Ravenna have always increased from year to year, never decreased, beyond any crisis or economic-social imbalance, the comparison with 2022 shows that 2023 was a fabulous record for our community, capable of comparing with the richest Italian cities.
The monstrous figures are enough. The proven incomeequal to 371.5 million, increased by 12% compared to 2022. The result is a per capita expenditure per inhabitant of 2,383 euros, almost double, on average, that of the Municipalities of the same class as Ravenna (between 100 thousand and 250 thousand inhabitants), which, according to the latest statistics from IFEL (Institute for Finance and Local Economy of the National Association of Italian Municipalities), it was, in 2021, 1,281 euros. The revenue for investments and public worksequal to 99.1 millionexceeded those of 2022 by 20%. committed expenses were of 330.8 million, equal to an increase of 10.3%. L’administrative surplus reached the hyperbolic figure of 163.3 million, 12.1% higher than that of the previous year. And if it is true that current transfers from public administrations, equal to 30.2 million, have fallen compared to 33 in 2022, the grand total of current transfers it was of 37.4 million compared to the previous 34.8, thanks to the 7.1 million donations given by families (2.1 million) and businesses (5 million). From all this, let us only observe that, with all this grace, the increase of 5.8% of municipal taxes from 127.1 million in 2022 to 132.9 of 2023 has proven to be ungenerous to say the least. And perhaps that our city, its territory and the environment, its people, would have deserved better treatment.
A note on the services offered to citizens upon payment of a fee, examining, without commenting on them, the data of two important structures: the municipal swimming pool and the museum (MAR). In 2022, the management of the swimming pool cost the Municipality 454.5 thousand euros, collecting 12.5 thousand, i.e. 2.75%; in 2023, the expenditure rose to 523.5 thousand euros and the collection to 13.3 thousand, however falling to 2.55%. In 2022, the MAR had 16,901 accesses, collecting 52.8 thousand euros from the ticket office, equal to an average of 3 euros for each entry; in 2023, accesses, which rose to 26,078, brought 105.3 thousand euros to the ticket office, equal to an average of 4 euros each. The expense, excluding that for staff, was 837.6 thousand euros in 2022 and 835.1 thousand in 2023, covered by the ticket office for 6.3% in 2022 and 12.6% in 2023.
: Fat cow municipal budget in 2023){kind=link}