Positions taken by Vito D’Antona of the Italian Left and Giovanni Cavallo of South calls North.
What happened to the budget of the Municipality of Modica? Many people are asking this given that silence has fallen on the subject for some time.
Yet how it reminds us Vito D’Antonaof the Italian Left, in a statement dated 7 May the Sicilian Region invites the municipalities still in default to quickly approve the budget forecast for the three-year period 2024/2026.
“The Region specifies that – explains D’ Antona in a statement – after having already granted an extension, the procedure for appointing commissioners is at an advanced stage and the replacement is imminent. With a subsequent circular dated 10 May, the Sicilian Region itself informs the municipalities that have not approved the statement for the year 2023 by 30 April 2024, and also among these is the Municipality of Modica, which, if it does not approve the same promptly , also in this case, the commissioner procedure will be started” D’Antona then continues by highlighting that “If, as is probable, this were to occur, considering that we are stuck with the approval of the 2021 financial statement which took place in January 2024, the Municipality of Modica could find itself in the position of being simultaneously subject to four commissionerships for failure to comply with the approval of the fundamental accounting tools of the institution”. In short, the Municipality would do everything possible!
“Indeed- continues D’Antona- as early as 4 October 2023, the Municipality was placed under commissionership for not having approved the 2022 financial statement and the budget forecast for the three-year period 2023/2025 within the legal deadlines. The now prolonged and persistent delay on the budgets denotes a very serious financial situation which could jeopardize the achievement of the objectives of the rebalancing plan, taking note that the Court of Auditors, regarding delays in the approval of the budgets, wrote that the failure compliance with the terms: “…can represent an element of evaluation for the subsequent judgment on the plan…” (resolution no. 311 of 7 October 2015). We believe- concludes the SI representative– a change by the Municipal Administration that takes the financial issue as a priority in its administrative activity can no longer be postponed”
The. also intervenes on the same issue Citizen coordinator of South Call North Giovanni Cavallo which focuses attention on another fundamental consequence due to the failure to approve the budget “No Budget? No hiring!” In the press release Cavallo underlines that “In the last ten years, the workforce of the municipality of Modica, due to the regulations that blocked new hiring, has undergone a reduction of over fifty percent. We went from more than five hundred employees to around two hundred. The reduction obviously affected all administrative sectors with serious and evident damage, certainly not to the competence, we would be careful about that, in terms of the efficiency of the bureaucratic apparatus. Human resources for any organization are the fundamental element. Even more so for complex entities such as in the case of a common entity that must ensure public services for citizens. Among all sectors– continues the city coordinator of South Call North – that of the Municipal Police with a staff reduced to the bare bones compared to that foreseen on paper is certainly the most complicated to manage. The skills of the Municipal Police are multiple and various services cannot absolutely be left out. We will not go into the details of the tasks carried out by the Municipal Police, but we cannot fail to underline the perception of insecurity that citizens experience and certainly a patrol in addition to those of the other law enforcement agencies would alleviate this sensation. Recent regulations have removed, under certain conditions, the hiring ban, so much so that, for example, the Municipality of Rome announced a competition for 750 Agents. A hiring phase could also open for the Municipality of Modica. Around 100 ASUs are in service at the institution and are waiting to be stabilized and from which, through consultations and training courses, personnel could be drawn to be allocated to the Municipal Police” Cavallo asks himself: “But what is the problem?” but the answer is quickly given: “The Municipality of Modica, thanks to the questionable financial and budget management of the last ten years and the considerable delay of the current administration in approving the 2022/2023 budgets (report and forecast) cannot proceed with the stabilization of ASU personnel or with the announcement of new competitions . The legislation, in fact, requires the approval of the last three budgets as a condition also to proceed with the calculation of the number of hirings compatible with the regulations on public accounts”
The City Coordination of South Call North considers the considerable delay accumulated in the approval of the budgets unacceptable and unjustifiable, especially if this becomes an obstacle to the recruitment of human resources in the presence of very important staff shortages and urges the Municipal Administration to speed up the process for the approval of the accounting documents, restoring the body to the full power to proceed with the stabilization of ASU personnel or, if necessary, to announce new competitions.
