The socialist municipal group of Ibiza denounced this Monday an alleged non-payment of 113,000 euros in concept of overtime, complementary services and assistance to trials of the Local Police. According to the PSOE, this situation is the result of “bad economic forecasts” by the government team and a diversion of resources to the area of Fiestas. In addition, they criticized that the solution to the problem could be delayed due to the need to initiate a budget amendment file.
PSOE criticism of the government team
In its communiqué, the PSOE stated that, during an urgent meeting with trade unions held on November 29, the mayor , Rafael Triguero, explained that the budget item earmarked for these payments does not have sufficient liquidity. According to the socialists, the mayor assured that a solution is being worked on, but without guaranteeing a concrete deadline for making the payments. In addition, the PSOE accused the government team of disposing “arbitrarily” of public resources by redirecting funds to Fiestas instead of attending to the needs of municipal workers. This diversion of resources, according to the socialists, was reflected in the last plenary session, where transfers of different items were approved to finance festive activities.
Gema Marí’s answer: “There is no lack of liquidity, but normal administrative processes”.
In response to these criticisms, Gema Marí, first deputy mayor and councilor for Human Resources, categorically denied the PSOE’s accusations and assured that the pending payments are part of the usual budget closure process. Marí explained that the budget extension destined to the Fiestas program does not affect at all the payment of overtime, complementary services or attendance to trials. “Last week, when the November payroll was closed, not all the necessary procedures had been completed to include these payments, as it was necessary to process a file of modification of credits,” said the councilor. According to Marí, these files are usual at the end of the financial year and are financed with surpluses from other personnel items. In addition, Marí stressed that the government team is immersed in the tasks of preparing the budget for 2026 and the budget closure for 2024, which intensifies the work of the economic departments. However, she assured that all outstanding remunerations will be settled before the end of the year. The councilwoman spared no criticism of the PSOE, calling their complaint “misplaced” and accusing them of confusing the lack of liquidity with issues of budget availability. “We are not talking about lack of money, but that we are in an administrative process that follows the normal deadlines,” explained Marí, who added that the PSOE’s accusations demonstrate “a total lack of knowledge about the functioning of the municipal budget.”
Commitment to municipal workers
Finally, Marí reiterated the commitment of the City Council with its employees and assured that, as usual at this time of the year, the payment of all outstanding ordinary and extraordinary remunerations will be completed before the close of the fiscal year. “The words of the PSOE only seek to confuse the public, but the government team continues to work to guarantee the rights of our workers,” he concluded.
