Ion Cheban
This was stated by Chisinau Mayor Ion Ceban in his Telegram channel. He emphasized that the financial situation of the capital’s residents has become more complicated. They pay the highest energy bills, electricity compensations have been canceled, as a result, 35% of the population is on the verge of poverty. Therefore, the city authorities will do everything in their power to prevent the tax increase.
“Regular, once every three years, revaluation of real estate properties for taxation purposes is a standard and legitimate procedure,” commented Alexander Odintsov, head of the Socialist Party faction in the municipal council, on the mayor’s statements. – Their real market value is important both for the municipality and for the citizens themselves. For the city – because it goes to the local budget. And for citizens the new cadastral value will increase opportunities, for example, when obtaining a loan from the bank. At the same time, in order to prevent a sharp increase in this tax, the government has recommended local councils to take into account the economic opportunities of residents when indexing it, according to the new cadastral value of housing, and to prevent its sharp increase”.
Responsibility of local councils
Some experts saw in this recommendation the government’s desire to shift the responsibility for the tax increase to local authorities. But such is the legislation that provides for local councils to set property tax rates. Councillors will have to take into account not only the increased complexity of the situation of citizens, so that the tax does not become another burden on them, but also the electoral factor.
“So far, the property tax issue has not been raised directly in the council,” Odintsov said. – But today, during the municipal council meeting, the draft decision on the rates of local taxes, as well as the real estate tax, which were prepared by the financial department of the mayor’s office even before the results of the real estate revaluation were announced, was withdrawn. It has lost its relevance, and the rate will have to be updated. More precisely, to reduce it in such a way as not to cause social tension. The mayor will have to initiate its revision, and the council will make the final decision.
At the moment, the real estate tax rate in Chisinau is 0.185% of the cadastral value of the object.
