Friday, 17 December 2021 12:57
Today Ana Juan, Alejandra Ferrer and Bartomeu Escandell, the respective President, Vice President and Councillor of Economy and Finance of the Consell de Formentera, presented the local government budget for 2022. At €33,835,500, the spending plan marks a 10.4% uptick relative to the €30,640,000 budget in 2021.
President Juan said that 2022 would find the Consell managing its "largest budget ever": "We will keep investing in improving our towns, offering broader and better support for regular islanders and expanding environmental protections", Juan asserted, framing the overarching goal of the budget as "bettering islanders' quality of life". Juan described the past twelve months as "a time of deep and widespread uncertainty due to the pandemic", and said the island's efforts past and present to strengthen local production and support families with a range of assistance "have been and will continue to be about serving people".
For her part, Vice President Ferrer remarked that, despite challenging times, "we have managed to hold on to what we've got, and maintain zero debt, so we can keep promoting a stable economy and helping individuals, families and small businesses in need". As for the regional spending plan, the Vice President said she hoped that all the amendments presented by Formentera would be resolved and the budget items executed. She likewise insisted that funding from the European Union was "very important, because many of the investments that will allow us to continue moving towards sustainability depend on them".
Councillor Escandell offered a review the 2022 budget, casting it as "recording-breaking in size", and insisted that "the progressive arrival of EU recovery funds will be decisive in the coming year". The finance chief described another feature of the spending plan as "expanded staff structure to support consolidation and the projected launch of new facilities and services".
He continued, "Investment criteria boiled down to ongoing work toward our 'sustainable island' model with projects to recover areas of immense environmental value like S'Estany des Peix and to optimise sustainable mobility".
Investments
Other line items are dedicated to ordering and regulating moorage at S'Estany des Peix and improving public transport and access to the nature reserve (€250,000). Upgrades in towns will continue as well, like phase three of improvements in Es Pujols (including on Carrer S'Espalmador), creation of an access road for the old people's home and sanitation in Es Ca Marí. To support citizen participation, €325,000 has been set aside for the Consell d'Entitats' Participatory Budgets initiative.
Also noteworthy will be the opening of the island's first old people's home pending completion of an access road and equipment acquisitions. The appropriate allocations have likewise been made for a safe home for at-risk children under 12.
17 December 2021
Communications Office
Consell de Formentera
