Interior Minister Constantinos Ioannou on Thursday unveiled a raft of proposed amendments to laws concerning local government, with the stated aim of “improving the legislative framework for the benefit of local government”.

He informed the House interior committee of the proposed changes, which number no fewer than eight.

The first amendment foresees that the management of rainwater in villages will be the exclusive responsibility of village councils, while he also proposed an “acceleration of the expropriation process for the purpose of expediting the registration process of rural roads”.

Additionally, he proposed that the approval of district government’s budgets be the responsibility of cabinet and not of parliament, and the “incorporation” of the €12 million local authorities lost in planning permission revenues into the €117m handed to local authorities by the central government in grants.

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The municipalities stopped receiving revenue from planning permission applications when the competency was handed over to district governments last year.

Interior ministry spokeswoman Margarita Kyriakou told the Cyprus Mail that this extra €12m will not simply be added to the existing €117m state grant but will be offered to municipalities based on planned infrastructure upgrades which would otherwise have been financed with revenue made from planning permission applications.

Ioannou also said his ministry has a “positive position” regarding the creation of a provision concerning the determination of a methodology for future readjustment of the state grants offered to municipalities.

He also proposed the creation of an annual €15m state grant to municipalities for the maintenance of “roads of primary importance”, and the “unfreezing” of job positions in municipalities and village clusters.

Kyriakou explained that these job positions are new positions which require parliamentary approval to be opened, and mostly concern administrative roles within new village clusters

Additionally, Ioannou informed the committee of a cabinet decision to finance maintenance and replacement projects in the water supply network to the tune of €8m, with the aim of reducing water waste.

Speaking after the committee meeting, Ioannou said that “the effort will continue in consultation with district governments, municipalities, and village councils, and we will try to improve the legislation surrounding local government”.

He also passed comment on the matter of the role of deputy mayors, saying amendments his ministry is writing “include a number of responsibilities which deputy mayors can assume, which at this stage cannot be of an executive nature”.

“I repeat, our goal is to constantly identify weaknesses, to make amendments, so as to improve the local government reforms,” adding that he had “warned in advance that there would be problems in its practical implementation”.

Asked about the matter of “unequal” tax burdens on people living in different parts of the country, he said there “cannot be equal taxation at a national level, given the differences in the real needs and services offered by municipalities”.

“Each municipality’s circumstances are different, and this is the case across the world. Municipal taxation cannot be uniform in a country. Each municipality determines its pricing policy based on its needs and services from the point of view of the quality of the services it wishes to offer,” he said.

On the matter of the €117m government grant and plans to adjust that figure over time, he said, “I understand that the cost due to inflation have increased since 2022”.

“We as a government agree that this amount should be adjusted over time. It should not remain constant and is a distortion provided by the legislation. For example, in ten years’ time, €117m will not have the same value as it does today, and yet the law explicitly provides for €117m.

“There should be an adjustment in this amount, either according to inflation or otherwise, but to increase this amount in its entirety.”

However, he brushed aside suggestions that an increase in the figure may be imminent, saying, “at this stage, this is not acceptable, because the reform has just begun and this is the figure budgeted”.