Benidorm approves its budget for 2021, 115 million and focused on helping families and reactivating the local economy

The plenary session of Benidorm City Council has approved today with the favorable vote of the local government the municipal budget for fiscal year 2021, which reaches 115,470,629.53 euros in the expenses section and 116,632,811.50 euros in the income section , showing a surplus of just over 1.1 million. The Councilor for the Treasury, Aída García Mayor, explained that these accounts arise in a "situation conditioned by the pandemic" and guide the City Council's action to contribute to "overcome the crisis", helping "the resident population, the families of Benidorm ”and collaborating“ in the reactivation of the local economy ”.

The approval of the budget has been addressed in the session as an extraordinary dispatch, incorporated in the extension of the plenary session signed on Monday by the mayor, Toni Pérez, and whose urgency has been ratified today.

García Mayor highlighted that 2021 "is the first budget to be drawn up after the early cancellation of the Adjustment Plan", and that it "once again raises the ceiling of social spending in the history of the municipality, exceeding 25 million euros, reserving more than 6.2 million for direct aid to families and the productive fabric "to which" are added the rest of the resources for expenses and social care, such as scholarships or Social Welfare and Employment benefits and other areas , to exceed 25 million euros in policies and social resources ". However, the mayor has remarked that "social spending items, especially aid, are expandable if the Government of Spain authorizes the City Councils to use the remaining Treasury for this purpose."

In addition, the budget includes "an increase in investments, which stand at 24.2 million euros." Of these, 15,093,325 euros will be provided directly by the City Council, while the remaining 9,498,408.10 euros come from contributions from other public administrations and from the urban developers of  El Murtal and Industrial partial plans and linked to the developments of these areas.

The head of the Treasury has clarified that "the increase in investments" is marked by "the impulse of projects that have subsidies from the various administrations, both European, national, regional and provincial" to start the actions included in the EDUSI or those financed by the Institute for the Diversification and Saving of Energy. In total "more than 7.5 million euros". Likewise, García Mayor has reported that the municipal contribution will be paid through bank loans, an amount that will be reduced by the same amount obtained from the remaining treasury once the 2020 budget is settled -in March-, and that it is expected that amounts to several million euros.

The plenary session of Benidorm City Council has approved today with the favorable vote of the local government the municipal budget for fiscal year 2021, which reaches 115,470,629.53 euros in the expenses section and 116,632,811.50 euros in the income section, showing a surplus of just over 1.1 million. The Councilor for the Treasury, Aída García Mayor, explained that these accounts arise in a "situation conditioned by the pandemic" and guide the City Council's action to contribute to "overcome the crisis", helping "the resident population, the families of Benidorm" and collaborating "in the reactivation of the local economy".

The approval of the budget has been addressed in the session as an extraordinary dispatch, incorporated in the extension of the plenary session signed on Monday by the mayor, Toni Pérez, and whose urgency has been ratified today.

García Mayor highlighted that 2021 "is the first budget to be drawn up after the early cancellation of the Adjustment Plan", and that it "once again raises the ceiling of social spending in the history of the municipality, exceeding 25 million euros, reserving more than 6.2 million for direct aid to families and the productive fabric "to which" are added the rest of the resources for expenses and social care, such as scholarships or Social Welfare and Employment benefits and other areas, to exceed 25 million euros in policies and social resources ". However, the mayor has remarked that "social spending items, especially aid, are expandable if the Government of Spain authorizes the City Councils to use the remaining Treasury for this purpose."

In addition, the budget includes "an increase in investments, which stand at 24.2 million euros." Of these, 15,093,325 euros will be provided directly by the City Council, while the remaining 9,498,408.10 euros come from contributions from other public administrations and from the development agents of the El Murtal and Industrial partial plans and linked to the developments of these soils.

The head of the Treasury has clarified that "the increase in investments" is marked by "the impulse of projects that have subsidies from the various administrations, both European, national, regional and provincial" to start the actions included in the EDUSI or those financed by the Institute for the Diversification and Saving of Energy. In total "more than 7.5 million euros". Likewise, García Mayor has reported that the municipal contribution will be paid through bank loans, an amount that will be reduced by the same amount obtained from the remaining treasury once the 2020 budget is settled -in March-, and that it is expected that amounts to several million euros.

Investments chapter breakdown

Among the 45 investments included in the annex to the budget, 15 correspond to multi-year projects and which, consequently, will start this year and will be completed in subsequent years. Among them are the three projects linked to EDUSI: adaptation of different neighborhoods such as Alfredo Corral and upper part of l’Aigüera and Els Tolls -2.1 million-; the remodeling and conversion of the Bullring into a hotel for associations, civic and social center -2.5 million in 2021-; the construction of the shelter in Séquia Mare Park -1.2 million- and other actions on public roads -3.3 million-. Also on a multi-annual basis are the renewable energy and sustainability projects subsidized by the IDAE –more than 4.3 million-.

In addition, with 100% municipal resources, the expansion of the cemetery - 1.2 million this year - will begin, and the tramway of Benidorm with the elimination of level crossings - 750,000 euros. The budget also includes 2.4 million for access to the industrial estate.

Among the projects that will be fully implemented in 2021 are the creation of the Aula del Mar - within the Tourism Sustainability Plan and valued at 660,592.99 euros-, the equipment of the cultural center -920,000 euros-, the improvement of l'Hort de Colón -105,000 euros-.

Other plenary business

With the vote of the entire Corporation, the new furniture contract has been awarded for a period of 10 years. The Councilor for Public Space, José Ramón González de Zárate, has reported that this contract "is valued at around 9 million euros" and based on it, the winning company, Impursa, "will have to make a mandatory investment of 1.1 million euros for the implementation of new elements ”. Continuing with the economic impact, with this contract the City Council will receive "an annual fee of 270,000 euros, 120,000 more than with the previous contract", and will obtain "a reduction in the price of items to be supplied of 30%".

De Zárate has stressed that with this contract "Benidorm will improve a lot in image and modernization", as it includes "the implementation of technological elements" such as 'techno-stops', digital totems, environmental sensors, telescopes, weather stations, and Wifi access (30) and three for vehicle recharging ”.

It is expected that "the total implementation of the new contract", with which progress is being made in the fulfillment of the Smart Tourist Destination Master Plan (DTI) and the Urban Mobility Plan, will be a reality "by the summer of 2021".

Also unanimously, all councilors have approved to start the procedure to tender 10 Mercat positions in a single lot, seven of which are unoccupied, some practically since the opening of the facilities. The Head of Contracting, Aída García Mayor, explained that this measure seeks "the reactivation and revitalization" of these facilities. García Mayor has pointed out that to date "the constant attempts of the City Council to get the positions without market activity to start up and generate economy and employment have not borne fruit", with only three of the ten positions being occupied by "former paradistas" .

Two of the positions currently occupied will close due to retirement in the near future, while the third has asked to move to another location within the same facilities, which will allow all the positions in the final stretch of the Mercat to be included in a single batch.

The proposal includes changing the use of this sales area delimited by stalls 1 to 10 from ‘market’ to ‘supermarket’, thus diversifying the activity. In the specifications that will govern the tender, it will be clearly stipulated that the activity to be carried out in this sales area cannot coincide with that of the Mercat stalls that are operating.

With the same result, the services to be provided on the beaches of Benidorm have been adapted to the current situation, marked by "low demand" for them "due to confinements and mobility restrictions", as the mayor of the area, Mónica Gómez. The councilor explained that based on the request sent by the concessionaire, "the hammock rental service will cease to be provided until February 28, 2021" and "the fee will not be settled" for the period between October 15 and That date. Also until the end of February, the cleaning and lifeguard services are modulated to current needs, with a maximum cost for the entire period - starting from mid-October - of 226,107.75 euros plus VAT. Likewise, in the February plenary session, the conditions and characteristics of the service to be provided from that moment on will be established based on the current restrictions, which will mark the demand for the beaches.

By majority, the Corporation has given the green light to the Preliminary Market Consultation in order to prepare the new contract for the waste collection and street cleaning service. The councilor of the area, José Ramón González de Zárate, has detailed that citizens, business and social agents and companies in the sector will be consulted about the needs of the service, based on this formula contained in the Law of Public Sector Contracts .

De Zárate explained that this Consultation affects "citizen participation" and "will be developed in two blocks". The first is reserved for "social agents", and will participate in it: the Abreca-Cobreca, Aico, Aptur, Hosbec associations and the Benidorm and Comarca Property Administrators; as well as the Neighborhood Council, the works council of the current concessionaire and groups of the Corporation. The second block will be open to companies dedicated to the management of urban solid waste collection and / or urban cleaning, and to suppliers of products, equipment, systems or services linked to the object of the contract.

The mayor has pointed out that this Preliminary Market Consultation will allow knowing and evaluating the different options that are in the market to define a model of avant-garde and technologically advanced collection and cleaning services, which meets environmental objectives, which meets demand , which adapts to European regulations and complies with the principles of technical and economic efficiency and effectiveness.

De Zárate has remarked that the intention is that the bidding and awarding process "be completed during the second half of the year, and that the new contract will be operational at the beginning of 2022".

In relation to this service, the plenary session has also agreed by majority the conditions that will govern its provision by Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas (FCC) Medio Ambiente during the year 2021 and the cost of which will be 11.1 million euros. De Zárate explained that when it comes to quantifying the proposal for 2021, “the important impact that the measures adopted to face the pandemic have had on the service, with extraordinary disinfection work in public and private spaces” , as well as "the decrease in tourists and visitors motivated by mobility restrictions" which has meant a reduction in tourist activity and, therefore, in "waste production".

The mayor has pointed out that by 2021 "there is a reduction of about 420,000 euros in the fixed and variable canon" that the City Council must pay, which "shows the containment of spending."

By majority, it has also requested "the suppression of article 30 of the Draft Law on Fiscal Measures, Administrative and Financial Management, and Organization of the Generalitat Valenciana for 2021", by which "a new tax rate will be created ”Linked to the garbage collection and street cleaning service and, more specifically, to the percentage of organic waste treatment.

The mayor of the area has rejected the creation of this new tax, which "reaches all Valencians", and even more so in "a time of crisis like the current one"; And it has been advanced that if the same is applied, the cost of the ton of treated waste will go from the current 52 euros to the 132 in 2025.

With the majority vote of the Corporation, the Valuation of Jobs (VPT) and the List of Jobs (RPT) of the City Council staff have been approved, which will be applicable from September 1, 2021 The councillor of Human Resources, Ángela Zaragozí, recalled that the VPT was endorsed in a very broad way by municipal staff in public consultation. The proposal approved today includes that "the unit price per point" assigned to each job is "one euro", as "agreed at the General Negotiation Table" and has endorsed the Economic department.

Unanimously, the plenary session has approved the initiation of the ex officio review of null and void acts in relation to the urban agreement signed in 2003 with Acciona regarding a parcel of which it is the 50% owner in the APR-7.

With the majority vote, the motion of the PP and Cs groups has prospered in which it is claimed to modify the distribution system of the Municipal Cooperation Fund of the Generalitat Valenciana. The proposal indicates that the current repair system "harms" Benidorm and "encourages the depopulation of towns and the rural world." Hence, the regional government is asked to modify these criteria and apply those established by the Alicante Provincial Council within its Financially Sustainable Plan, in which it provides "special sensitivity and support to the municipalities with less population." In the same way, it demands that the Generalitat assume "the management of the Mental Health area in the Doctor Esquerdo Center, the Provincial Home and the tele-assistance service, which amount to more than 25 million euros." The spokesperson for the government team, Lourdes Caselles, has indicated that "if the Generalitat assumes its own powers, the Provincial Council will have more resources to allocate to the municipalities of the province," especially those with less population.

In the same session, the decree of continuity of provision of the public lighting service and traffic light network, carried out by the commercial SICE, has been ratified until December 2021.

Extraordinary offices

As an extraordinary dispatch, a majority has given the green light to the General Account for the 2019 financial year, after it was ruled by the Special Accounts Committee and no allegations were received during the period of public exposure.

Unanimously, the third update of the specific modification number 1 of the Partial Industrial Plan 3/1 has been provisionally approved. The head of Urban Planning, Lourdes Caselles, explained that with this document "the partial plan is adjusted and adapted to the new determinations" communicated by the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda regarding studies of traffic, noise containment and livestock routes. Caselles has pointed out that during the period of public exposure "no allegations have been received." Likewise, he thanked "municipal technicians" from various areas and the developer agent "for the work" done to unblock the urbanization of this sector, which is 67% complete and in which the construction of a shopping center is planned .

Finally and unanimously, the plenary session has waived that the members of the Corporation and the temporary staff benefit from the 0.9% salary increase approved by the Government of Spain. Yes, this increase will be applied to the municipal staff.