The difficulty for the Brussels Region of erasing financial inequalities between municipalities in the capital through endowments / subsidies is a sign of the need to merge them, said one.brussels – Vooruit deputy, Els Rochette, on Wednesday.
A new study presented Tuesday to the Brussels parliament quantifies the inequality between residents of the capital in the services provided by the municipalities and the price that costs them. It reveals the existence of a divide between rich and poor municipalities, but also between municipalities which have, or not, many offices in their territory.
“The merger of the municipalities of Brussels remains the best way towards more solidarity, more prosperity and better services for the inhabitants of Brussels. Minister Clerfayt wants to ‘review’ the grants to the municipalities in order to eliminate these inequalities. But this is not the case. Enough. Only a merger can guarantee that the wealth of the east of Brussels is also used to help the vulnerable Brussels inhabitants of Molenbeek or Anderlecht. There is no reason why a resident of Koekelberg should not benefit from municipal revenues. high thanks to the offices located in Saint-Josse and the City of Brussels. And it is not understandable that a Jettois must pay more property taxes for this same reason “, judged Wednesday the deputy Els Rochette.
According to this, this difference is also reflected in terms of spending capacity.
“Why can Ixelles spend 1,434 euros per capita, while Ganshoren tops out at 868? Do they deserve better streets and more services in Ixelles? We are all from Brussels. Why do they need twice as many staff in Saint -Josse to perform tasks identical to other municipalities? More than ever, the merger of the Brussels municipalities is necessary for more equality, solidarity and efficiency, certainly in a region which is financially anything but easy; every euro must be optimized “, concluded the elected Flemish socialist, in a press release.
