The Chilean Association of Municipalities accused Finance Minister Jorge Quiroz on Monday of showing no willingness to dialogue on the contributions project and requested to halt its processing until it is guaranteed that there will be no decrease in municipal revenues.
The ACHM, led by Zapallar mayor Gustavo Alessandri, issued a statement after a board meeting in which it expressed concern over the possible elimination of property tax payments for seniors and other effects of the megareform promoted by the government.
The mayors noted that there is full agreement that progress cannot be made without safeguarding municipal resources. “There is full agreement on a fundamental point: it is not possible to advance a proposal of this nature if it is not expressly guaranteed that there will be no decrease in municipal revenues,” they stated.
Officialist mayors such as Catalina San Martín of Las Condes and Felipe Alessandri of Lo Barnechea also questioned statements by Undersecretary of Regional Development Sebastián Figueroa, who acknowledged that direct compensation for the most affected municipalities is not contemplated, a measure that would stop collecting around US$ 70 million after compensating the Municipal Common Fund.
The association called on the Executive and Congress to open formal dialogue spaces before continuing with the initiative and announced that it will address the issue at the National Meeting of Municipalities to be held between June 2 and 5 in La Serena.
