Villajoyosa Approves Modification of Urban Waste Collection Fee

The Villajoyosa Town Council, convened today in an ordinary session, has approved the modification of the fiscal ordinance for the fee for the provision of the solid waste collection, transfer, and treatment service, applying new annual rates for both households and commercial establishments. The increase in fees was approved with the votes in favor of the local government team and Gent per La Vila, and the votes against from the municipal groups PSOE, Compromís, and Vox.

The new annual fees for citizens range between 120 and 172 euros annually, depending on the area of residence. In the La Cala neighborhood, an annual fee of 172.74 euros will be applied, in the northern area of the municipality it will be 141.97 euros, in the central area a rate of 161.84 will be established, in the southern area it will be 140.27 euros, and in the scattered area 120.63 euros.

The fees for commercial establishments will vary according to the type of business and the area of occupation of their facilities. The average rate for citizens goes from 99 euros to 170 euros per year, which represents an increase of 71.9%, "a smaller impact than that applied in their rates by many municipalities, where the increase is between 150% and 180%," pointed out the spokesperson for the local government team and Finance Councilor, Paco Pérez Buigues, who added that "the annual receipts for commercial establishments will only increase by 5% to encourage local commerce and help freelancers and entrepreneurs in their professional activity."

Additionally, Pérez Buigues highlighted that the ordinance includes bonuses based on personal circumstances and involvement in sustainability for both companies and individuals.

This new measure is established by Law 7/2022 of April 8 on waste and contaminated soils for a circular economy approved by the Government of Spain and implies that municipalities must pass on the full cost of the urban waste collection service to taxpayers. Until now, citizens only paid part of this service, and the rest was covered by the town hall. This state law aims to reduce waste production and regulate its treatment, based on a waste hierarchy principle and thinking about the circular economy to minimize the negative effects of waste generation and management on human health and the environment.

In this regard, Pérez Buigues explained that "the state law obliges municipalities to apply a specific and non-deficit fee that allows the implementation of pay-per-generation systems before April 10, 2025, so many municipalities have been gradually increasing fees over the last three years to meet the 2025 deadline, but the previous local government team did not want to modify the fee during its term, so now the mandatory fee increase is abrupt for citizens, as it did not lower any other type of municipal tax either." The spokesperson for the socialist municipal group, Andreu Verdú, highlighted that it is "a big fee" that could be offset by lowering the property tax.

Another fee whose modification has also been approved by the Council for the 2025 fiscal year is that of the sewer service, following the contract specifications, whose update is carried out through the automatic review formula included in the contract, with a variation of 5.8%. The Councilor for Urban Planning and Infrastructure, Pedro Ramis, explained that this price is updated annually, being one of the indices for the IPC review. "Therefore, the government of Marcos Zaragoza does not raise the waste fee, nor the water or sewer fee as announced in the media by the socialist municipal group. The waste collection fees are increased to comply with state legislation and the sewer fee (and not the water fee, according to the PSOE) as indicated by the annual review of the concessionaire company's contract," Ramis pointed out.

In another point of the agenda, the Council unanimously approved a motion presented by all political groups condemning violence in sports. This motion was proposed in the previous council meeting, when, during the turn of requests and questions, the spokespersons of the opposition municipal groups asked the Vox councilor David Moreno about the news published in various media regarding an alleged assault on a minor during a sports competition. Likewise, the proposal of the socialist municipal group to transfer to the Generalitat Valenciana the modernization needs of the port has been approved.

The Council also approved the increase in the total amount of bonuses for the staff of the Villajoyosa Town Hall without altering the total amount allocated to chapter 1 of personnel initially consigned in the 2024 budget. The initial amount assigned is 60,500 euros, which is insufficient to pay for overtime and extraordinary services planned until the end of the 2024 fiscal year. Therefore, it has been approved to increase it to 120,500 euros, which corresponds to the surplus credits of the job positions that have not been filled for eight months.

On the other hand, the Council rejected the motions presented by Compromís to promote women's sports and the creation of a service area and parking for motorhomes in the municipality, as well as those proposed by the PSOE to develop a project to build a covered sports pavilion in the Marta Baldó sports complex and demand the Generalitat Valenciana to continue the employment promotion programs. Regarding this last motion, the spokesperson for the local government team and Personnel Councilor, Paco Pérez Buigues, stated that "this regional program was financed by European funds, which have already been exhausted, so the Consell has reoriented the aid by designing a new employment promotion strategy, so the programs with exhausted funds have disappeared and new ones have been created, as the Consell will allocate 1,438.39 euros per unemployed person in 2024, which is 100 euros more than in 2022 by the Botànic government."