The National Association of Portuguese Municipalities (ANMP), led by president Pedro Pimpão, demands to be heard before the public presentation of the proposals for the revision of the Local Finance Law. The association has already participated in two meetings with the working group created by the Government in April, but was initially designated only as an "observer", which generated contestation among local officials, although Pedro Pimpão states that this issue is already resolved.
Pedro Pimpão, local official from Pombal, argues that the revision should result in a new Local Finance Law and not just circumstantial changes, considering that the current law dates back to the time of the "troika", when the Government of Pedro Passos Coelho altered it in September 2013. The ANMP leader expects to receive a pre-final version of the proposals by the end of November to be able to comment during the working group's work.
Among the main changes desired by ANMP is the increase of municipalities' participation in taxes collected by the State from 19.5% to 25.3%, as well as participation in taxes on petroleum products and environmental funds to support climate transition and the municipalities' resilience capacity facing catastrophes.
In June 2024, Prime Minister Luís Montenegro announced that the Government would present a new Local Finance Law to update the financial resources of municipalities, and in April the working group was created to coordinate this revision.
