A pre-Christmas gift? Raising the waste and property tax in Burgas is being considered! Here is the position of „Vazrazhdane“

The adamant position of the municipal councillors from the „Vazrazhdane“party in Burgas is that they are against the proposed drastic increase in the waste collection fee. This was announced by Mariyan Ivanov during a party briefing. According to him, several problems arise beyond the increase itself. He explained:

„In fact, what is outlined in the financial plan for waste treatment and processing is not a promise that the city will become cleaner. The main increases are due to the rise in unit prices for the respective services. In other words, this was stipulated when the contract was signed, when the public procurement was announced, and when the contract was concluded. It is presented in a financial plan with the explanation that the revenues do not cover the expenses several times over. Other colleagues of ours have raised questions about how much in taxes and fees are currently uncollected. But the explanation I received yesterday during the Legal Commission meeting was interesting. Regardless of how high the collection rate is, even if it’s 100%, the collected revenues do not cover the costs in the financial plan. This actually renders the financial plan meaningless. It remains with the impression that we are being presented with a fictitious document, which is simply, so to speak, obligatory for raising taxes and fees. It must be submitted by the end of the year, but this is a fictitious document, and no matter what is written in it, however much taxes are collected, they will not cover the costs.“

According to the municipal councillor, it creates the impression that no matter how much the tax is increased, it will not make the city cleaner.

„Additionally, it can be seen that last year the revenue from waste collection fees was increased compared to the previous year, by more than BGN 2.3 million. In other words, even with the increase in revenue, it still does not cover the cleanliness expenses, which to me indicates poor planning of expenses or inefficient use of funds for cleanliness,“, he added.

At the same time, Violeta Diyanova commented that the proposed budget for 2025 shows the largest percentage increase for maintaining cleanliness in parks, gardens, and green spaces – 50%. She clarified: „The explanation from the administration for this is that they received many complaints from citizens about pollution. Accordingly, when I asked the committees what the prevention policy is, and since they constantly repeat the principle ‘the polluter pays“, I asked whether there is control, and whether there are sanctions. They promised me a list of sanctions and control measures. They admitted that it is minimal, they don’t have enough staff, and there is no control over those who are actually polluting. Instead, all citizens are punished, even those who don’t dispose of their waste outside the designated areas. They are strict. Everyone is penalized with a general fee, which they will have to pay, and for this reason, we consider it to be particularly unfair.“

Diyanova reminded that there was a proposal from „Vazrazhdane“ for increased control, but it was rejected on the grounds that it was not possible to increase the staff, there were no funds for salaries, but a general penalty had to be imposed on all citizens. You can listen to her full position:

Mariyan Ivanov also gave an example from Varna: „The population of Varna is about 126,000 people larger than Burgas, according to the latest data from the National Statistical Institute. The Municipality there is proposing an increase in the waste collection fee by just over  0.5 per square meter. And notice, this is with a planned financial plan of BGN 55 million – about BGN 16 million more. In other words, Varna manages to cover a larger waste collection fee with a smaller tax, which is still not accepted there. Varna has one of the lowest waste collection fees in the country.“

Maria Filipova with scandalous revelations about Vasil Bozhkov, who offered her 10 000 leva a day