“Inconceivable” – this was the word mayor of São Brás de Alportel Vítor Guerreiro used to describe a proposal in Portugal’s 2015 State Budget, which ultimately prevents councils from hiring more staff, and even forces layoffs.
At a time when the council “needs 40 new workers”, Guerreiro fears the measure could spell ruin for the municipality.
He explained that it effectively prevents councils from spending more than 35% of their net revenue over the last three years on all staff expenses.
In a nutshell, this means that Guerreiro would have to lay off around 50 workers – a huge percentage considering the municipality only employs 320 people.
Thus he believes the government’s proposal could “jeopardise the services that the council offers”.
Services already are cut to the bone. There are streets that haven’t been swept “for a while”, he explained, and there is even a library at a local school that is nearly “always closed”.
Thus the mayor suggests the government revises its percentage to 45%, particularly to reward municipalities with “good management practices”.
“I think that at least councils with ‘healthy’ finances like ours should be given that trust,” he said, stressing the hiring of new staff will not jeopardise finances.
The mayor’s proposal was forwarded on Monday (October 13) to the Secretary of State of Local Administration, the National Association of Portuguese Municipalities (ANMP) and the Algarve Municipalities Association (AMAL) as well as the leaders of all parliamentary benches.
