The President of COMURES did not want to comment on the reduction of Fodes, but other mayors regret that their own income is too low to continue to run social programs.
Given President Nayib Bukele’s announcement to reduce the Municipal Economic and Social Development Fund (Fodes), mayors are concerned, especially those who govern small municipalities that do not have enough of their own income to invest in social programs for communities.
One of them is the mayor of Mejicanos, Simón Paz, of the FMLN, who explained to Channel 19 news that, due to the pandemic, many small companies were forced to close because they could not survive the attack of the socio-economic effects generated by COVID -19.
SEE: The reduction of the codes is a fiscal adjustment of the Government to the detriment of the works for the municipalities, says the analyst
The drop in codes will no longer allow them to continue investing in social programs, especially when they have a significant reduction in municipal rates due to business closures.
“It will certainly be an obstacle. Fodes are not just infrastructure works, but the Fodes Law empowers municipal governments to invest in social programs, but this is also collapsing our economic situation, ”Paz said.
As he said, in the governing municipality, which is Mejicanos, they had small business closures that also left dozens of people unemployed because of the pandemic and that its municipality subsists with the rates paid by taxpayers because it is not a industrialized city.
“There are few companies, which means that the income from own funds is limited. Fodes, we are clear about its usefulness, the law stipulates how we should use it and we used it according to the law “, explained Paz.
For his part, the mayor of Ayutuxtepeque, Alejandro Nóchez, the only municipality in San Salvador to win the ARENA, urged Bukele to maintain the decentralization of mayors and to implement the new mechanism for transferring codes to mayors by 2022.
“I request that this not be from this year, but from 2022, although it is true that we are working with an approved budget since last year and we are already working. The reform could be approved this year, but applied until 2022, I always call for decentralization that must continue and strengthen it “, said Nóchez.
SEE ALSO: Bukele cuts FODES and concentrates funds on a new autonomous municipality
Economic analyst Rafael Lemus explained that the government overlooked another important point, as leaving the administration of 25% of Fodes in the hands of mayors leaves them unable to meet their commitments to pay the loans obtained with the municipal fund as guarantee, one of them is the Municipal Debt Restructuring Trust (Fidemuni).