A town is like a family: the locals put together their money and possessions, and the head of the house pays the expenses, makes the necessary repairs and invests to increase the comfort of the household.
In Bihor, however, many local administrations not only do not have money to invest, but cannot even cover their own current expenses. There are 10 UATs that do not even take out their operating expenses, Public Finances show.
Basic rules
In order to function effectively, a local government must follow some basic rules. “It’s one thing to be mayor in Oradea, where you have a large income at your disposal, and another is to lead a commune at the end of the county, where the revenues are low. However, the principles are the same: take care of revenue collection, don’t let the money go to waste and don’t waste resources on projects that don’t bring profit to the residents”, says the president of the Bihor County Council, Ilie Bolojan (photo).
A former mayor for three terms, Bolojan says attracting investment is vital. “If there are jobs in the locality, people have more opportunities. They make a living, they get a house, they are less tempted to leave, and the town develops”.
In order to encourage mayors to follow these principles of efficiency, in the last three years CJ Bihor has redistributed money from the county budget to local administrations taking into account several indicators, starting with the size of personnel costs compared to own revenues and up to the degree of collection of own income.
“This year we did not apply these indicators, because from the summer in some localities the mayors will change and it would be unfair for the newcomers to be punished with smaller allocations for the performances of their predecessors”, explained Bolojan. But the principles remain…
City halls for a pittance
According to the information provided BIHOREAN by the County Administration of Public Finances, if they were companies, almost all the fourth town hall in the county would be bankrupt. “There are 10 territorial administrative units in which their own revenues provide less than 85% of the financing of operating expenses”, AJFP Bihor sent.
On the list of those who could not even ensure their own functioning last year are the town halls of Balc, Cetariu, Criștioru de Jos, Derna, Lugașu de Jos, Petreu municipalities (no – former Abramuț)Sălacea, Ștei and Tămășeu, as well as the city of Vașcau.
In addition, three town halls – Câmpani, Căbești and Popești – collected less than half of the forecasted revenues, i.e. fees and taxes from local residents and companies.
Four town halls – Paleu, Finiș, Uileacu de Beiuș and Vașcau – spent less than a tenth of the money they had on investments last year.
The curse of the “minute”
Last year, the Popești commune managed to collect less than 50% of the revenues that the City Hall had forecast. For a company, that would have meant bankruptcy. Councilor Dorin Curtan says that the “hole” comes from unpaid fines. “Every day we receive at least a verbal report from the Police, for traffic violations, theft of wood and others, which remain unpaid.”
The commune has to collect about 1.5 million lei from bad-payers. “The fine is the last thing a person wants to pay. We have sent notices, we make seizures, but not everyone has income, so that we can collect them”, says the mayor, trying to explain why he cannot move to foreclosures. Popești City Hall asked the court to convert the debts into work for the benefit of the community. “About 40 people are paying their debts through work, but it will take some time.”
Căbești City Hall also collects the money with difficulty. “Starting from 2022, we carried out forced executions, and where it was not possible, we converted the debts into work”, says the mayor Corina Ene (photo). Last year, the administration sent 350 writs to 700 taxpayers with debts and forced 14 locals to pay them through work. The results were seen. “I don’t know why we appear on the Finance list. After we made seizures and work files for the benefit of the community, with our own income of about 900,000 lei, we managed to collect about 2 million lei”, says the mayor.
Only bad from Vasčeu
In Bihor, many UATs are effectively living on debt. The best example is the city of Vascău, which, with all the support from the central budget, will spend 16.7 million lei this year, while the forecasted revenues are 16.5 million lei. Own revenues represent only a tenth of this total, i.e. 1.6 million lei, an amount to which is added 5 million lei from VAT allocations, receipts and subsidies. Too little anyway!
In his fifth term, mayor Florin Porge (photo) he sees the situation with resignation. “Starting from 1996, the norms for moti are applied in Vașcau. With us, only 50% of the property tax is paid. If it were paid in full, we would have money,” claims Porge. Not true, though: the math shows that to cover its expenses, the city would have to triple its own revenue.
Located in the top of Romanian towns on the verge of extinction, Vascăul has lost 20% of its population in the last decade, the remaining inhabitants being mostly pensioners, and there are few companies that pay taxes. “It’s hard to manage without income”, says the mayor blasé, as if his role is not to get money, but to complain about the lack of it…
“We’re in the red”
Operating on debt seems to be a given for many localities on the edges of the county, from the city of Ștei to the communes of Balc or Criștioru de Jos. However, when low own income overlaps with projects that involve high expenses, “bankruptcy” is guaranteed.
The commune of Petreu, called Abrămuț until last year, had expenses of 6.8 million lei in 2023 with revenues of only 5.8 million lei, of which only 3.4 million lei from own sources. The situation is repeated this year. “We are in the red,” admits Barcui Barna (photo). He adds, however, that the town hall maintains a center for the elderly, which eats up all its money. “This year we received 100,000 lei for the maintenance of the center, which costs us 60,000 lei per month, i.e. over 700,000 lei per year.”
The mayor does not know how he will cover the difference. “When I asked Mr. Ilie Bolojan for money, he said to close the center. I don’t want it!”, says the mayor. Meanwhile, the hole in their budget is steadily growing. “The fee for caring for an elderly person is 3,200 lei per month, but the real price would be about 5,000 lei,” claims Barcui, who does not know how to cover the difference.
“Depopulation” of the budget
The low incomes affect not only the communes located at the end of the county, where the population leaves, and it is more difficult for investors to arrive, but also localities near Oradea, such as Cetariu, which last year spent 8.6 million lei, having its own income of only 5.7 million lei.
“In the last 40 years, the population has halved, from over 4,000 to around 2,000 inhabitants. The income has decreased, but the maintenance of the village costs the same or even more expensive”, says Csomortányi István, advisor to the mayor Biró Ferenc.
In order to meet the income, the town hall tries to solve all the problems with 13 employees, from mowing the grass to calculating the taxes, but it is not enough. The only solution is to attract tax-paying companies. “We have two investments under authorization, but that will take some time,” says Csomortányi.
In administration, as in life, money is hard earned, even if it is easily spent. And when the incomes do not reach them, the localities – just like the people – live on other people’s money…
MAY!
There is money, let the householders be…
The lack of financial resources is not a given for local administrations, as some mayors claim.
According to the records of AJFP Bihor, last year 17 UATs out of the 102 existing in Bihor collected their income from citizens and companies in a proportion of over 95%. The list is opened by CJ Bihor and also includes the communes of Astileu, Budureasa, Cărpinet, Cefa, Ceica, Cociuba Mare, Diosig, Gepiu, Mădăras, Pomezeu, Sânmartin, Şinteu, Tărcaia, Toboliu, Pietroasa and Rieni.
14 UATs have allocated over 60% of their revenues for investments: CJ Bihor plus the municipalities of Oradea, Beiuș, Marghita, Valea lui Mihai, Borș, Cociuba Mare, Drăgești, Lugașu de Jos, Olcea, Sâmbăta, Sânnicolau Român, Tărcaia and Tăuteu.
Regarding the misappropriation of money, last year 16 UATs spent on employee salaries less than 10% of their own income: CJ Bihor, Oradea, Beiuș, Marghita, Salonta, Valea lui Mihai, Borod, Borș, Cociuba Mare, Drăgești, Lugașu de Jos, Sânnicolau Român, Sânmartin, Ștei, Tărcaia and Șețchea.
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