“I left many things undone, particularly the balance of decentralization – what I regret most is not pursuing the monitoring process, as I know many local officials are ultimately dissatisfied with the powers they’ve received due to a budget imbalance that was never corrected, contrary to what was planned – and I’m sorry for not having approved the new Local Finance Law,” stated Luísa Salgueiro, a week before the ANMP congress.
The socialist local leader, who also serves as the president of Matosinhos City Council in the Porto district, was elected in 2021 to lead the ANMP, becoming the first woman to hold this position.
She will now step down at the upcoming weekend’s elective congress after the PSD won the most councils in the local elections in October and subsequently regained the leadership of the ANMP, which had belonged to the PS since 2013.
In her opinion, there is significant disparity and inequality between municipalities, with one of the causes being the Local Finance Law.
Although the new law had reached consensus with all governments in the last municipal term, the working group to carry out all tasks for its approval has not yet been formed.
“We have been waiting for the formation of the working group for two years,” she noted.
Luísa Salgueiro explained that the new Local Finance Law aims to bring more stability and predictability in the municipalities’ revenues, ensure they participate more in state taxes, and that the resource distribution criteria are not solely based on traditional factors, such as the number of inhabitants or area.
She added that there are small municipalities that significantly contribute to cohesion, and therefore, other criteria should be considered.
“The situation is not as severe as it could be because currently, the state budget transfers to municipalities are not following the Local Finance Law criteria. If followed, the law would result in some municipalities not even receiving the increase corresponding to inflation, while others would see their revenues doubled from one year to the next,” she indicated.
According to Luísa Salgueiro, currently, upon ANMP’s proposal, “larger municipalities forgo revenues they would be entitled to, to redistribute them to smaller municipalities.”
“We’ve created a redistribution valve inspired by the law’s rules that we wish were already in effect,” she explained, noting that there exists “solidarity among municipalities that ANMP promotes and puts into practice,” with “some cohesion resulting from the willingness of officials themselves who relinquish revenues for redistribution.”
Reflecting on decentralization, Luísa Salgueiro shared that she wished the first stage of the process were more balanced by now, especially in the health sector.
Among the three areas of decentralization — social action, education, and health — the health sector lagged the most, she said.
“During the PS governments, what was planned was not completed, and with these two PSD/CDS-PP governments, no progress has been made,” she stressed.
She added, “Unlike in education, no allocation of operational assistants based on an objective criterion was made.”
Luísa Salgueiro emphasized that some services are well-staffed while others are not, keeping the country unbalanced.
She noted the lack of a distribution ratio for vehicles for health services and the mapping of health equipment. The decentralization process has progressed significantly but needs to continue being revisited, and compliance with initial plans, particularly the transfer of funds, must be demanded.
“Colleagues report budget imbalances, bearing costs resulting from decentralization, which should not occur,” she highlighted.
The ANMP will elect its new president at the elective congress on December 13 and 14 in Viana do Castelo, with Pombal Mayor Pedro Pimpão already expressing his availability for the role.
