Payments unfrozen; council writes first cheque, for €12,448

Today, for the first time, the town council has applied the decree that unfreezes the payments to companies that provide goods and services to the authorities. The councillor responsible for the budget, Giuseppe Montalbetti, arrived at the town hall, at midday, with the cheque for the company Ronzoni, from Seveso, who had been waiting, since October 2011, to be paid for the work of recovering the pavement in Via Giordani, the road in Masnago that leads to Calcinate degli Orrigoni. 

The owners of the company had to wait quite a while, and a list of the companies that are still waiting for their money reached the desk of Mayor Fontana a few days ago. According to the council, there are 140 companies waiting. Ronzoni was selected, as a practical and symbolic gesture, because it was the last on the list, in other words, it was the longest outstanding debt. The sum paid was €12,448.

“It’s not clear exactly how the law should be applied. We wanted to give as pragmatic an interpretation as possible. So, we’ll start paying, and tomorrow, we’ll consider €1.3 million, which is 13% of what there was in the coffers on 31 December 2012, already paid. Then, we’ll see.” 

The situation is similar for all of the local authorities. By the end of May, the council must communicate how much money it has available, in order to be able to calculate the percentage resources that, in accordance with the decrees, must be given to the companies. Varese town council have already advanced a lot of money. They had €10 million; in 2012, thanks to the granting of credit by the banks, €3.2 million were already unfrozen. That leaves €6.8 million. The Mayor would like to pay out this nest egg as soon as possible, but he has to understand how much further he can go. He claims that the law can be interpreted, and decided. “We don’t trust this government any more; they don’t even know how to do their sums. We’re not stopping at what we’ve already paid out.”