The Socialist Municipal Group in the Purchena Town Hall has defended in the last plenary session that the council, and not the users, should assume the increase in the cost of municipal water supply and sanitation that has been approved in the last plenary session with the votes against the PSOE, according to a press release sent to the media.
The PSOE spokesman, Eusebio Santos, considers that the council has «sufficient funds» to do so and, in fact, in the same plenary session, the PP government team approved credit modifications to the municipal budget to address expenses and contributions «that we do not understand as urgent and that could have been postponed for the next budget year in 2024», such as membership of the Mancomunidad or the new release of councillors. «Both are sufficient to neutralise the increase in the cost of the proposed service, and as we have indicated, we do not consider them urgent.
In the case of the releases, the socialists of Purchena are particularly concerned given that during the election campaign, the current PP mayor «said that none of the members of his team needed a job in the town hall, when we are already on the third release, and this last one with a cost of 30,800 euros per year for all the residents of Purchena», Eusebio Santos has complained. The last release corresponds to that of the deputy mayor and, as the socialist spokesman insisted, «so far, the PP has already approved three releases when the now mayor said he was not going to make any.
With regard to the increase in the price of water supply, Eusebio Santos recalled that water for domestic use «is one of the few services on which a council can intervene» and considers that, given the current situation of generalised price increases, the council can «do more» for the residents. In this sense, he regretted that the PP government team has opposed subsidising water for Purchena’s families and businesses.