Full Council approves the 2021 municipal budget for over 3,200 million euros
The Full Council has approved the municipal budget for 2021, the biggest in the City Council’s history at 3,253 million euros. The resources will be used to boost the social response to the Covid-19 crisis and to drive the recovery and get the city’s economy back on track.The main areas for the budget are:
- Social services: € 358 M
- Prevention, security and traffic control: € 339 M
- Urban services: € 329.9 M
- General services: € 231.1 M
- Public transport: € 164.1 M
- Housing and urban planning: € 140.2 M
- Commerce, tourism and SMEs: € 107 M
- Environment: € 66.2 M
Expenditure will increase by 7.3%, rising from 3,033 million euros in 2020 to 3,253 million in 2021. This increase is based on the extraordinary contributions from the state and the fine financial health of the City Council, making it possible to take advantage of the suspension of tax regulations, the use of budgetary carryover and the possibility of borrowing.
In terms of investment, the record figure of nearly 800 million euros will mainly be using for housing, the economic recovery from the Covid-19 crisis and the urban transformation of public space.
- Housing: € 192.7 M in total, with € 50 M for purchasing to boost the public housing stock and an additional € 20 M for renovations to improve energy efficiency in homes.
- Economic recovery: € 62 M in all, with the new fund for the resumption of activity (€ 20 M), the recapitalisation of SMEs (€ 20 M), the circular economy (€ 6 M) and the acquisition of premises at affordable prices for economic activity (€ 16 M).
- Urban transformation of public space: € 182.4 M in total, for the transformation of public space to combat the climate emergency and move forward in the design of a friendlier city for people, with an additional fund of € 30 M for priority works in the districts.
See all the details and related documents on the website for the 2021 budget.
Municipal taxes
The Full Council also approved the tax by-laws for 2021, which will:
- Freeze all tax rates.
- Maintain the reduction of 75% for the tax on terraces throughout 2021.
- Apply a 75% reduction to the municipal tax on the use of public space for fairs and other activities.
The 2021 budget was approved with votes from the municipal government, ERC and Barcelona pel Canvi, with Junts per Catalunya and Cs voting against it and the PP abstaining.