Globes, Rami Greenberg, 09.01.2020
As every year, the municipal system goes into a spin towards the end of the year as the budget is prepared. This year, as a result of the government instability, local authorities approached the 2020 budget - more than ever - with uncertainty. Thus, when the sea is turbulent it directly affects the ships in it - the local authorities.
This is reflected in a lack of communication with the professionals in the various government ministries, the freezing or reduction of long-term projects, reduced budgets and more. In the created situation, the head of the authority has two options: try to insist on government budgets and take a risk that will not eventually reach the authority or enter the resident's pocket and raise the property tax to collect a few more shekels.
Unfortunately, the easiest action for the head of the authority is actually the conduct with the little resident. A few negative headlines in the various locales, public outrage on Facebook and after paying the first municipal bill everything would cease. In the end, this is not a drastic increase that would bring down an average-income family. Alongside this, there is no doubt that this will deepen the gaps between the lower population strata, as the latest poverty report demonstrates - the poor will be even weaker.
To demand budgets from government ministries especially during an election period, as mentioned, is a complex task. But if we try to counteract the existing difficulty, it seems to be a task that is certainly possible. For her to succeed, the head of the authority must convey a clear message to the professionals below - the resident's money must not be touched and whatever. With this starting point one must move forward.
After defining the mission and characterizing the direction reading, the head of the authority must require his or her subordinates, the wing managers, to map the needs carefully and to check the readiness of the calls and tenders that the state publishes. When the management team in the municipality realizes that the main reason is to work with the government ministries, then they will harness the issue and internalize their efforts to succeed.
At the same time, the head of the PA cannot allow himself to lean on the yeast and hope for the best - on the contrary. He must strive for intense contact with the relevant government ministers and professionals in their office and prove his seriousness to them. In business as in business, here too - you must not blink.
Meetings should be arranged in an orderly manner when the PA's data has been studied in depth and the mayor controls them as well as sleeping. The combination of the team's understanding, harnessing, and the overall effort of the authority can certainly yield positive results. For example, in Petah Tikva, we managed to reduce 0.38% of the municipal property tax payment for 2020, when the independent municipal income section increased through budgets transferred from the government ministries. The Ministry of Education budget has increased from NIS 370 million to NIS 392.2 million, and the Ministry of Social Affairs' budget has increased from NIS 147 million to NIS 152 million, all in addition to revenue from other government ministries which stand at NIS 21.5 million.
As head of an authority that has been in office for a little over a year, I am certainly pleased with the various achievements facing the government ministries.
At the same time, with the food comes the appetite and therefore the municipality's policy will continue to adhere to this method in the years to come. You see, as the resident believes that the PA is working hard for him and taking his money becomes the PA's least preferred option, the more the obligations he has to meet are more easily accepted and understood.
The writer is the mayor of Petah Tikva