Aragón pide aumento al 5% de variables de despoblación, dispersión y orografía

The main accusation of the autonomous community of Aragon against the regional financing system revolves around the demand to increase the weight of corrective variables such as depopulation, dispersion, and orography to 5%, compared to the Ministry of Finance’s proposal to raise it to 4% from the current 3%.

The Minister of Finance, Public Administration, and Public Governance of the Government of Aragon, Roberto Bermúdez de Castro, explained in a press conference on Tuesday the accusations presented and emphasized, «We are not seeking confrontation. We are trying to reach a positive agreement.»

Furthermore, Bermúdez de Castro has advocated for the need to include fixed costs, depopulation, and orography, as well as the importance of giving more weight to corrective variables to change the current financing model that deepens the imbalance of territories.

The reform of the financing system, according to the counselor, «cannot be a piecemeal approach; it must be a comprehensive solution, and one part cannot disintegrate itself from another,» therefore, «it cannot be limited solely to the change in adjusted population,» but rather a «global negotiation» that will «set the playing field» in terms of how the population will be accounted for.

Aragon’s expenses to provide basic health, education, and social services, according to a report from the Community’s Chamber of Accounts, amounted to 2,958 euros per «adjusted» inhabitant for the year 2022, resulting in a financial deficit of 398 euros per inhabitant.

The ongoing insufficiency of income penalizes Aragon, highlighting the need to correct the model that currently favors territories and populations facing demographic challenges such as depopulation.

If not, the report sent to the Ministry of Finance by the Government of Aragon emphasizes that «it knowingly condemns its citizens to inferior services or even no services at all.» In light of the need to balance territories and adapt financing to reality, the inclusion of orography and depopulation indicators is crucial to achieve more accurate financing.

The crux of the accusation, as stated by Bermúdez de Castro, lies in defending the depopulation, dispersion, and orography variables. «It doesn’t take a scientist or a great expert in Aragon to know that these three variables are clear, relevant, and present in our autonomous community.»

«The most important thing is to increase the weight of corrective variables to 5%,» stated the regional treasurer. As for the remaining 95%, Aragon’s proposal suggests that health should account for 43-45%, favoring the higher end; education between 19 and 20.5%, social services between 10 and 12%, and the rest of the services between 16 and 18%.

Of the 5% allocated to corrective variables in Aragon’s proposal, Bermúdez de Castro mentioned that land area would account for 2-2.3%, dispersion 0.5-0.6%, islands 0.5-0.6%, fixed costs 0.6-1%, depopulation and orography each 0.5-0.6%.

Recognizing this as a «complex» issue that necessitates «ongoing dialogue,» the urgent request for a meeting with the Secretary General of Autonomous and Local Finances, Inés Olóndriz, was made to explain in detail the accusations put forth by Aragon.

At this juncture, the relationship between the government of Aragon and the central executive is described as one of «institutional loyalty and absolute normality,» although, specifically as the Treasury Minister of the branch, María Jesús Montero, is cited as «distant» and added, «She was not appointed to answer the phone.»

The orography of Aragon, with its mountainous and climatic features, entails higher costs in the construction and maintenance of any infrastructure, posing challenges in ensuring equal access to fundamental services for all citizens.

40% of Aragon’s municipalities fall within disadvantaged «mountain areas.» In the case of Huesca, over 45% of its municipalities are included, while in Teruel, the figure is almost 85%. Additionally, 25 of the 50 highest municipalities in Spain are located in Aragon, mostly in the province of Teruel.

Moreover, the Aragon government asserts that, akin to islands, orography, as a geographical and natural feature, must be taken into account in the regional financing system.

Regarding road infrastructure, Aragon has 690 kilometers of mountain roads—310 in Huesca and 480 in Teruel—part of the autonomous community’s road network, incurring additional costs in maintenance, conservation, and repairs.

The report endorsing Aragon government’s accusations asserts that the distribution of population in the territory is not simply corrective variables but rather an authentic demand for certain services that must be factored into the regional financing system.

Indeed, the OECD demonstrates that the annual cost of primary education is 33% higher in rural areas than in cities, with primary education being 14% more expensive in remote areas than in metropolitan regions.

Furthermore, Bermúdez de Castro indicated that a «leveling fund» should be established initially to provide adequate services while negotiating the new financing system, suggesting it should be a significant amount, no less than 10 billion euros.

He recalled that some autonomous communities are «undeclared,» with Aragon being one of them, as detailed in a recent report from the Chamber of Accounts highlighting the lack of transparency in the autonomous financing system. This agency reports a financial deficit of over 500 million euros for the region.

The Chamber of Accounts, in its report, clearly states that the financing system has been so strained during the crisis that autonomous communities have had to take drastic measures to manage new accounts, showcasing the challenge of estimating revenues at certain times, as conveyed by the counselor.

Additionally, the need for the Basque Country and Navarre to contribute funds to the system is underscored, as they have a financing system that aligns with service costs. Moreover, from the state’s perspective, there should be clear parameters for service costs, which are currently lacking.

Throughout these discussions, there is a persistent emphasis on the necessity to reform the autonomous financing system given the economic challenges of the current era, as a significant portion of revenues come from income tax and VAT, which are particularly impacted during crises due to low employment and consumption levels.

FUENTE