A Town in Alicante Demands Interest from the Generalitat for Non-payment of €1.3 Million in Social Services Program Contract

Villena Town Hall has announced that it will demand from the Consell the interest for late payment due to the non-payment of €1.33 million from the 2025 Social Services Program Contract. The Town Hall asserts that the Ministry has not paid the annual installment of the 2025-2028 multi-year agreement, which funds municipal social services resources that are the responsibility of the autonomous community.

The Councillor for Finance, Juan José Olivares, believes this measure aligns with the "reciprocity of actions," as the Generalitat "does claim interest when settling unused subsidy contributions." "If the Ministry can claim interest from us for not using all the funds, without considering any legal or administrative reasons for not being able to complete the agreed expenditure, and applies the delay period for the time they take to audit the subsidy, we believe we can do the same against them," he explained.

The councillor laments that this situation forces the Town Hall to pay the salaries of workers for a service provided by the town hall, although it is the responsibility of the Generalitat. "We have been financing the Ministry for these 12 months, and I hope it won't be much longer. We hope that, with the change of leadership, there will be more order and interest in maintaining basic public services like this," he added.

The initiative is a response to the non-payment situation of the first year of the Social Services Program Contract, a plan covering the 2025-2028 period of citizen actions and services carried out by the Town Hall, which the Generalitat must finance within its competencies.

However, given the non-payment situation caused by the Consell, Olivares believes that "currently, and since January, it is the Town Hall that is financing the Ministry, covering its shortfall, acting within its competencies, and therefore, it is fair to receive compensation for these funds we advance as a local administration."

"The financial cost to the municipal corporation as a result of the Consell's non-compliance must be compensated. Hence, the intention to claim this interest for late payment for the period of these 12 months on the amount of €1.33 million that the Generalitat owes to the citizens of Villena," he concluded.

Olivares believes that regarding the Program Contract, there has been a "neglect of duties by the Consell. The Ministry has not been sufficiently involved to ensure that these services and benefits, aimed at those with the greatest difficulties, were not left hanging in the void." From his perspective, "the previous Program Contract expired on December 31, 2024, without the Ministry having foresight or anticipation of this void that was created. Moreover," the Finance Councillor comments, "it took months to renew it, and the year is going to end without any payment being made in this regard."