Belgium/Saint-Josse: presentation of a balanced 2023 budget proposal

The commune of Saint-Josse will present a slightly improved budget at Wednesday's council meeting, mayor Emir Kir announced on Monday.

According to the latter, the capital's central municipality is holding its own in the face of increasingly difficult balances between the energy crisis, inflation and wage indexations. The draft budget is presented with a slight surplus of over 100,000 euros, while maintaining "fair taxation for citizens and protection of their purchasing power".

In a press release, the municipality points out that it is one of the few not to have touched the property withholding tax, and that for over a decated a resolutely social policy based on free and accessible services in a wide range of areas, such as sport, day-care centers, administrative documents, and so on.

"The challenges facing local authorities are enormous, and we want to protect our citizens' purchasing power. We are therefore committed to maintaining the robust social policy that characterizes us, with the two imperatives of budget planning and anticipation to achieve our objective", commented Emir Kir, quoted in the press release.

According to him, the main principles underpinning the budget include controlling current expenditure; improving revenues; planning major investments by actively seeking subsidies; taking a proactive approach to increasing revenues; and, last but not least, maintaining a strong social policy. adopting a proactive approach to increasing revenues and subsidies without impacting citizens' purchasing power; maintaining a sound social policy in all circumstances; guaranteeing stable public employment; and maintaining fair taxation.

Source: www.rtbf.be/