"The Prime Minister supports the Arnona Fund Law and asks the coalition to support it" (Photo: Knesset Spokesperson's Office, Knesset Spokesperson's Office)
The heads of municipalities in the Dan region are threatening to stop the construction of apartments if the Arnona Law is passed, according to a report at the end of a stormy emergency meeting of many mayors that lasted until the wee hours of the night (14/05).
This follows the stormy discussions regarding the Arnona fund saga that the state is trying to promote as part of the Arrangements Law, with the aim of forcing local authorities to allocate municipal property tax revenues collected from businesses in order to incentivize construction in weaker cities.
The current proposal stipulates that each authority will transfer to a designated fund that will be established for this purpose a sum of between 10% and 49% of its annual municipal tax profit, and the money collected will be distributed back to all the authorities, against any residential building permit issued by the authority. In this, the Ministry of Finance believes, there will be an incentive for residential construction, unlike the situation today.
Will construction in the center stop? (Photo: ShutterStock)
Local authorities, as noted, strongly oppose the proposal in the current version, while there are also those in the Likud who raise eyebrows and are expected to make things difficult for Finance Minister Smotrich.
According to the mayors of the cities in the center, this will significantly harm the autonomy of local authorities and local government, and will also put a blatant and direct hand in the pockets of the residents, which will harm the middle class even more severely and severely. They also claim that the only ones who will benefit from the income at the expense of their residents are the ultra-Orthodox and the authorities in Samaria.
At the meeting, it was decided that many of the mayors would attend a meeting of the Finance Committee to be held this morning (Sunday, 10:00) in the Knesset, in order to prevent the proposal from being approved by the Finance Committee.
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"What the Treasury takes, will never come back"
Among the most prominent opponents are the heads of the local authorities: Ramat Gan. Kiryat Ono, Rishon LeZion, Givatayim, Gezer Regional Council, Yehud and others.
According to Kiryat Ono Mayor Israel Gal, who was prominent in the nightly Zoom meeting, "The significance of passing this decision in the Arrangements Law is the confiscation of 28% of Kiryat Ono's future revenues, which will force him and many other mayors to stop the construction of additional apartments in the central region, which depend directly on commercial property taxes that finance the lossy residential property tax."
"The government must understand that passing this criminal decision is equivalent to the decision to stop construction in the center. This is the equation," Gal announced on behalf of the mayors.
Tweet by MK Naor Shiri Mish Atid
Ran Connick, mayor of Givatayim, adds: "All over the world, the government strengthens the municipalities and transfers more powers. A move like the Arnona Fund weakens the municipalities and now also takes away local tax money, which is intended solely for the management of their place of residence."
"The distorted socioeconomic ranking, which determines the resilience of municipalities according to the strength of its residents, and not according to municipal revenues, serves the government and perpetuates a situation in which the cities of the State of Tel Aviv will be considered strong even though Givatayim and Hod Hasharon, for example, would die to receive some of the hundreds of millions that the "weak cities" receive every year."
"It is clear to everyone that this is another small coffers of the government that will only grow in the future. What the Treasury takes will never come back."
- Real Estate
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- Real Estate
- Gush Dan