The Câmara de Braga will reduce the rate of the Municipal Property Tax (IMI) for urban buildings by 3%, which means a “loss” of around one million euros in revenue and fixes that rate at 0.34%.
The decision was taken this morning, during the meeting of the city council executive, on the table being a proposal from the CDU that predicted that the rate on the IMI would be reduced by 5% (changing to 0.325), but against the proposal of the executive , the decrease in IMI to be charged to urban buildings was approved and fixed at 3%.
Municipalities can charge up to a maximum of 0.4% of the IMI rate, whereas in Braga the rate practiced was 0.35 and the drop approved today was the first since the PDS / CDS-PP / PPM executive took office .
In 2019, the municipality raised 25 million euros at IMI, a figure that, with the proposal presented, should decrease “by about one million” in 2020.
“It is not the one we expected and proposed. There are advantages and disadvantages to the municipality’s counter-proposal. It is still a very low reduction, we consider, but it is still a reduction, so we will vote in favor ”, explained, during the meeting, CDU councilman Carlos Almeida, when faced with the majority’s counter-proposal.
For the PS, this is a “salutary and common sense reduction in the face of difficulties” that the population faces.
“As it is our duty to care for the interests of the citizens and having this political will, our vote will be equally favorable”, explained the leader of the socialist opposition, Artur Feio.
At the end of the meeting, in remarks to journalists, Rio repeated why the CDU’s initial proposal was not viable.
“It is the first descent since I am president, we take it with some sacrifice, everyone is aware of what the municipality’s financial situation is, the charges that it has to bear and the importance that this revenue has to finance the municipal activity”, he explained.
“Even so, we do not fail to recognize that these difficulties are shared by many citizens and companies and cannot go as far as the one proposed by CDU, but obviously recognizing that it is possible to mitigate the efforts of families, we accept”, concluded .
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