Why do councils raise the garbage rate so much?

2023-10-25 11:23:24

A woman throwing a container in a container area.
Mireia Arso

Political communication advisers say that if a government has to take unpopular measureslike a tax increaseit is better to do it in the first year of office, that there are still many years until the next election. These days, many councils are approving the fiscal ordinances for al 2024, and the increases in rates and taxes that they foresee far exceed the evolution of inflation and wages, which generates criticism from the opposition parties and not a few citizens. Among the rates that rise the most is usually that of Garbage. In Roses it will increase by 50%, in Salt by 30%, in Girona and Lloret de Mar by 25% or in Olot by 17.5%. It’s not that all the mayors have the same adviser and have come to an agreement thinking about the next elections, but that they are rushing to comply with a regulations on waste which represents a radical change regarding the management of this service.

Here contamination pays

In April of last year, the Spanish government approved the so-called Waste and contaminated soil law for a circular economywhich adapted our regulations to a European Union directive that has a very clear objective: here contaminate pays. In this way, it forces the municipalities to establish one non-deficit garbage rate that allows the implementation of payment systems by generation and that reflects the real cost of collection, transport, treatment and management of waste. And this, at the latest, must be implemented by April 2025. Therefore, there are many municipalities that have to rush to update rates that are far from covering the actual cost of the service.

Regressive tax

The garbage rate is what is known as a regressive tax: as the taxpayer’s wealth increases, the amount of tax he must pay represents a smaller percentage of his income. This is why, until now, many municipalities chose at the time to offer a municipal service with a deficit and for the general treasury of the city council to pay the difference. The European directive on waste, adopted last year by Spanish law, represents a paradigm shift: increases transparency about the real cost of the service i the sustainability of municipal finances is ensured.