During the December session of the City Council, held on Tuesday, 22 December, Mayor Piotr Roman presented the councillors with a multimedia presentation on planned investments. The mayor spoke, among other things, about establishing a nursing home, building the International Ceramics Centre, reconstructing Zabobrze Street and co-financing county investments.
After Piotr Roman's speech, Hubert Prabucki of Ziemia Bolesławiecka took the floor: “We realise that the budget resolution is one of the most important. After a detailed analysis, we concluded that the planned expenditure is fully justified and makes this a very good budget. The projected deficit is relatively low when compared with the budget deficits of other cities or the state.”
Deputy City Council chair Józef Pokładek (Bolesławiec XXI) shared this view. “The crisis situation in which our country finds itself is forcing local governments to take on ever more debt; we are receiving increasingly smaller grants and subsidies from the government,” the deputy chair said. “This budget is balanced, focused on investment and stable.”
Next, Cezariusz Rudyk of Civic Platform joined the discussion. “The role of a sensible opposition is to point out threats to those in power,” the Civic Platform councillor said. Rudyk presented the Council with another multimedia presentation, in which he indicated that the increase in municipal debt in 2010 (from January to December) would amount to approximately 66.5%.
“No one intends to condemn all the projects planned in next year's budget,” the councillor said. “You often accuse us of opposing all investments. That is not true. In 2010, investment expenditure will accumulate as a result of carrying out an excessive number of tasks. Eleven of them will not receive funding from European Union resources. But it is not as though all these investments have to be completed in 2010.”
The Civic Platform councillor again raised the issue of developing Popiełuszki Square. “Building a swimming pool on this site is not a good idea,” Cezariusz Rudyk stressed. “Two tenders announced by the Municipality of Bolesławiec failed to find a buyer. Investors are not interested in building a shopping centre on the square. The lack of interest in purchasing part of the square may be caused by the construction of Galeria Piast having begun on Asnyka Street, while the design for the new shopping centre envisages connecting the building with the swimming pool. Thus, one of the more attractive sites in our city is losing value.”
“The next decisions concerning the budget will be made by the next council. With today's resolution, we may tie its hands,” the Civic Platform councillor warned. “Could excessive budget debt lead to reduced spending on education? If we get carried away and spend all the money on important investments that could nevertheless wait, there may be insufficient funds for other matters in the following years.”
Piotr Roman called the Civic Platform councillor's calculations “creatively populist accounting.” “Does building a swimming pool expand the educational offer or not?” the mayor asked rhetorically. “Did you take into account in your calculations the budget surplus resulting from the issue of bonds? Debt will be at least PLN 10 million lower.”
Roman assured the Civic Platform councillor that investors were still interested in building a shopping centre on Popiełuszki Square. “Your statement suggests that we should sell the entire site for the construction of a shopping centre. However, there was no other place where a swimming pool could be built,” he stressed.
The mayor returned to the issue of Galeria Piast. “The shopping centre on Popiełuszki Square will be six or seven times larger,” Piotr Roman pointed out. “Besides, representatives of Galeria Piast came to us and offered to build 70 parking spaces at their own expense. Was it worth fighting for those parking spaces?”
“If you call the budget proposal you prepared yourself populist, then congratulations. I took the data I quoted directly from that proposal,” Rudyk retorted. “Please bear in mind that people discussing matters with you may have a different opinion.”
Rudyk was supported by Bogusław Nowak of Civic Platform. “I would like to ask you, Mr Mayor, where you will get the money for all these costly investments. Those who live in this city and create jobs know perfectly well what the situation is. Young people are leaving Bolesławiec. Entrepreneurs are having their taxes raised. The noose is tightening around the necks of those who bring money into the budget. You are building castles in the air for us. I do not believe a single word you say,” he said. “Civic Platform supports the swimming pool, the International Ceramics Centre and the nursing home, but we must measure our strength against our intentions.”
Lesław Śliwko held a different view. “One of the laws of economics puts it briefly: those who take greater risks gain more. And I am talking about risk, not recklessness,” he stressed. “I get the impression that the opposition stems from the fact that the councillors do not like swimming. Or perhaps they cannot swim? I want a swimming pool, and more.”
Despite the opposition, the Council adopted the budget for 2010. Fifteen councillors voted in favour (the coalition councillors, Lesław Śliwko and Stanisław Andrusieczko). Civic Platform councillors and Irena Dul of the SLD voted against.
(information ii)