Another week has passed without seeing the advance payment of the solidarity fund arrive in the accounts of the Municipalities, which is the fundamental pillar in their budget revenue (this year worth 7.19 billion). “These are essential resources blocked by an incredible chain of bureaucratic delays,” laments Anci in a note, describing the situation as “unsustainable” for local administrations that “also show difficulties in paying July salaries.”
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The numbers at stake
In fact, just a glance at the data measures the seriousness of the issue. For the first installment, about 3.5 billion euros are at stake, expected by 5,000 large, medium, and small Municipalities scattered among the Ordinary Statute Regions, Sicily, and Sardinia. Usually, the advance arrives between the end of May and June, depending on the year. The historical series records even faster cases, such as in 2020, when the resources arrived in March to support the coffers strained by the pandemic lockdown, or in 2021, when the credit was made in April. The greatest delay so far is that of 2023, when payments were made on June 23.
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Bureaucratic viscosity
It is more complicated to identify the reasons for such an extended schedule. Because the maneuver has not substantially changed anything in the rules for distributing resources. And the sole exit of Rome Capital from the group of interested entities did not raise particular technical difficulties: so much so that the agreement on the allocation criteria was signed at the Unified Conference on January 21. But then the process got lost, and only in the State-City meeting of June 18 did the Government announce the signing of the provision. However, it is still with the Court of Auditors for registration.
The consequences
The absence of the checks risks complicating life not only for local authorities but also for businesses. Because with the coffers in distress, it is more difficult to pay commercial invoices to suppliers of goods and services: a small irony, after local authorities fully participated in accelerating payment times that allowed Italy to emerge unscathed from the European infringement procedure and fully achieve the objectives of the PNRR, bringing the Public Administration to settle invoices on average 16.1 days ahead of their legal due date.
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