On the last day of 2024, Law No. 45-A/2024 was published, establishing the 2025 State Budget. Here are some practical notes on matters relevant to local authorities.
- Public Contracts
Local authorities continue to be exempt from compliance with limits on expenses related to service acquisition contracts (cf. articles 16 and following of LOE 2025). Therefore, the provisions of the Public Contracts Code regarding rules for awarding public service contracts remain in force (highlighting the provisions of article 22, regarding the division of expenditure, and article 113, regarding the limits to be applied when inviting entities within the scope of direct award and prior consultation procedures).
- Rules Relating to Personnel
Regarding mobility, article 21 of LOE 2025 extends the deadline for existing mobility situations, which may last until the end of this year. For public interest transfer agreements, as referred to in article 243 of the LTFP, the extension depends on a favorable opinion from the Mayor or the President of the Parish Council. For municipalities in a sanitation or breakdown situation, article 45 sets limits on the recruitment of personnel but still allows, exceptionally, hiring - not only in the case of the conclusion of the PREVPAP and the need to recruit workers within the scope of the decentralization of competences under Law No. 50/2018 of August 16, and respective sectoral diplomas, but also for reasons to be defined by the municipality itself, namely:
2 - In exceptional, duly justified situations, the municipal assembly may authorize the opening of the tender procedures referred to in the first part of the previous number, fixing on a case-by-case basis the maximum number of workers to be recruited, provided that, cumulatively:
a) It is impossible to fill the positions in question with workers with a previously established public employment contract;
b) Recruitment is essential to ensure compliance with the legally established public service provision obligations, and considering the shortage of human resources in the sector of activity to which it is intended, as well as its overall evolution in the municipality in question;|
c) It is demonstrated that the costs of the recruitments in question are foreseen in the budgets of the services to which they refer; The information duties provided for in Law No. 104/2019 of September 6 are complied with punctually and fully.
- Patrimony
Article 138 states that municipalities cannot, when preparing their 2026 forecasts, budget revenues from the sale of real estate in an amount greater than the simple arithmetic average of the revenues collected from the sale of real estate in the 36 months preceding the month of its preparation. Only an exception to the listed rule is allowed, and exceptionally, if the existence of a contract already concluded for the sale of real estate is demonstrated. It should also be noted that local authorities have preference in the sale of seized real estate.
In fact, article 295 states that the municipality in whose territory a building or autonomous fraction seized in the context of a tax execution process is located has the right of first refusal in the purchase and sale or transfer in fulfillment, immediately ranking above the right of first refusal granted to the owner of the land provided for in article 1535 of the Civil Code.
For this purpose, the Tax Authority communicates to the municipality, by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt, the draft sale containing the following information:
a) Price of the building, of the thing sold together or fraction;
b) Discriminating identification of the object pledged; and
c) Other conditions of sale, with the Municipality having 30 working days to respond to the proposal, considering the lack of response as non-acceptance of the proposal. Moreover, if the value of the sale or transfer in payment is less than 85% of the base value of the property, the municipality must be notified, by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt, to definitively exercise the right of first refusal in the precise terms of the sale.
Regarding the subsoil occupation tax (TOS), article 149 states that it may continue to exist but cannot be a burden on consumers, i.e., the tax will always be borne by the infrastructure operators.
- Parishes
