Palermo officials at risk of losing pay raises
The wind starts in Messina and will inevitably affect the municipality of Palermo. The interpretation of a regulation is hitting hard against the increases in attendance fees for the presidents and councilors of the eight districts. They now risk losing what they had recently obtained, as they went from earning 600 to 1,200 euros per month as members of the municipal administration. There is still no official reversal on this issue, but the opinion of officials from the regional department of local autonomy cannot go unanswered. It is unlikely that two different applications of the regulation can coexist in Sicily. The mayor of Palermo, Federico Basile, and the general secretary, Rossana Carrubba, requested a clarification, arguing that the law does not automatically extend the increases to district councilors. The principle expressed by the general secretary is clear: “The automatic increase for district presidents cannot occur because the primary regulation that allows it is missing.” In other words, the fact that this increase was not explicitly provided for, unlike for other positions, makes it clear that it was not the intention of the legislator to include it. The regional department of local autonomy confirmed this principle. If this interpretation is upheld, the councilors of the Palermo districts will have to say goodbye to their pay raises. While the decision is still pending in Messina, where they are awaiting the regional government’s guidance, the increases have already been implemented in Palermo based on a different interpretation of the regulations. At this point, the director, Patrizia Arena, will have to decide what to do in light of these developments. There are two possible courses of action: either suspend the payment of the increases or inform the eighty district councilors that, in case of a different interpretation of the regulations, they will have to return the money received. The president of the council, Giulio Tantillo, who approved the resolution with the raises, believes that explicit guidance is needed, which would apply to all municipalities. He hopes for an explanatory circular from the secretary. Giuseppe Federico, president of the first district, agrees with the interpretation of their secretary, stating that if the raises are provided for the councilors whom the calculation of their fee is based on, then the increases should also apply to the district councilors.
Palermo, presidenti e consiglieri di circoscrizione rischiano di perdere gli aumenti dei gettoni
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