The Funchal City Council (CMF) was recently notified by the Administrative and Fiscal Court of Funchal of an unfavourable decision in the case involving the municipality and Águas e Resíduos da Madeira (ARM).
This decision follows a position taken by the previous executives of the Socialist Party, elected in 2013 and 2017, of not recognising or paying all the invoices of the Funchal City Council to ARM for the monthly supply of water and waste collection.
It was the current executive, at the end of 2022, who reached an agreement with ARM to settle debts, having stipulated the payment of invoices, in full, as of January 2023, avoiding the growth of a debt that currently reaches more than 49 million euros (€49,526,910.00).
This decision by the current executive safeguarded the interests of the municipality, since the adjustment of the values, as of that date, was conditioned to the judicial decisions of the pending cases, that is, if the Court agrees with the Funchal City Council, the ARM will have to refund the amount received in excess since January 2023. However, if the decision is in favour of ARM, the CMF will have to pay the amounts that are in dispute and on which interest accrues on a daily basis.
It should be noted that, up to the date of the aforementioned agreement with ARM, the company has filed 238 tax enforcement proceedings against the CMF, with the previous PS municipal executive having given as guarantees the Judicial Court of Funchal and the Funchal Fire Brigade.
In defence of the interests of all Funchal residents, the Funchal City Council will appeal the decision of the Funchal Administrative and Tax Court.
Samantha Gannon
info at madeira-weekly.com
