Following its favourable opinion by the special accounts committee in October, and subsequent publication in the BORM, and with no objections having been raised, an Extraordinary Plenary Session was held in which, with the favourable votes of the government team and the abstention of the opposition, the general accounts for 2016 were approved, ratifying the data advanced in March 2017 with the liquidation of the budget and which showed a closing with a budgetary stability of 4,359,619.67 euros.
For the Councilor for Finance, Antonio Martínez-Real, the 2016 financial year marked a significant turning point. The year began with a situation of budgetary instability caused by the V6 ruling ordering us to pay €5 million, which forced us to develop an Economic and Financial Plan. During that year, services were provided and improved, increasing social spending, creating a book bank, and creating new transportation grants and aid for sports clubs. Likewise, authorizations were processed, and the works for the Rambla del Realejo were budgeted and contracted.
Various investments were also made, such as the Almadenes and Olmico roads, various rural roads, the Avenida de la Industria in Asco, the Camino del Molino collector, and the Pedro Rodriguez School sidewalk, among other projects. The Councilor for Finance emphasized that despite the situation at the beginning of 2016, neither taxes nor fees were raised, and budget stability was restored, closing with approximately €4.3 million.
Thanks to this surplus, numerous investments have been able to be undertaken in 2017, along with others that will begin shortly, for example the councillor pointed out the works in Esquina del Convento, Calle Calvario, Paseo de Ronda or Gran Vía, elimination of architectural barriers, various rural roads including improvement in the signage of the railway in the Macetua area, renewal of traffic lights, with this surplus the municipal part of the POS works has been financed, in Cuesta de la Villa, Calle Fernando III el Santo, Calle Unamuno or Vereda Morcillo, the weight room in the athletics track has been financed and others that will begin shortly such as the remodelling of the Sports Centre, rehabilitation of the Police Station or works in Barrio Jover. In addition, this surplus was also used to allocate approximately €700,000 to current expenses to pay bills from previous years, and the remainder to pay off debt, significantly reducing it.
For all these reasons, Martínez-Real concludes, it's clear that the great work of this government is reflected, which in a very difficult year like 2016 has managed to turn the situation around and, starting from a situation of instability, has ended with stability, reducing debt, generating credit for investments that are now seeing the light of day, and all of this without increasing the tax burden on citizens.