Photo: “For the Truth”
Exactly one day after submitting a proposal to increase the waste collection fee for the municipality of Sevlievo, Mayor Ivan Ivanov withdrew the increase.
He withdrew his proposal for a vote on the 2026 waste collection fee plan at the beginning of the regular meeting of the Municipal Council and finally for 2025. Undoubtedly, the decision to withdraw the increase was made at the last minute, because the meeting was held on December 17 this year, and the proposal for a higher rate of the fee was submitted to the Municipal Council on December 16, as can be seen from the stamp above it.
No reasons given, but what is unclear
Ivanov did not explain the reasons for withdrawing the proposal, but no one asked to hear them either. The only thing the mayor of Sevlievo said was that the old household waste fee would remain in force for 2026.
However, where will the money for cleaning activities come from, given that the withdrawn proposal clearly states that the estimated costs “correspond to the costs of collecting, transporting, treatment of household waste in facilities and installations, and for maintaining the cleanliness of public areas.”
Furthermore, the additional materials published with the withdrawn proposal show that all cleaning costs in the municipality of Sevlievo come entirely from the household waste fee and there are no additional items to “help” cover the costs.
The old budget is no worse than the proposed and withdrawn one
The waste collection fee is made up of three services that municipalities provide to their citizens: the collection and transport of waste, its disposal, and the maintenance of public areas such as parks, playgrounds, kindergartens, streets, and spaces between buildings.
For the collection of household waste and its transport to treatment facilities and equipment, as well as the provision of containers for the collection of household waste, with the exception of separate collection for 2026 for the entire municipality of Sevlievo, expenses in the amount of BGN 2.2 million were planned. (the amount is rounded). For 2025, this amount is only BGN 1,564 lower, i.e. the proposed increase is almost zero – 0.07%.
This means that there is no problem with the service being co-financed from other sources, as is actually stipulated in Article 8, paragraph 3 of the Local Taxes and Fees Act, according to which the amount of the fee may not cover the full costs incurred by the municipality when this is in the public interest and a decision to this effect has been taken by the Municipal Council. In cases where the amount of the fees does not cover the full cost of providing the service, the difference between the costs and the amount of the fee shall be covered by municipal revenues, according to paragraph 4 of the same article.
For treatment, disposal, and deductions in 2026, a little over BGN 980,000 has been budgeted, while for 2025 this expense amounts to BGN 1.02 million, i.e. there is no shortage of funding for this activity, as there is a 4.8% reduction in expenditure. In other words, there is no need to increase the fee.
The only significant increase – from BGN 327,000 to BGN 615,000 – is for the cleanliness of public areas. The proposed increase was 88.4%.
According to experts, this is the item for which costs are most difficult to quantify, because it is convenient for listing activities that can actually be listed but not performed. This is, of course, very difficult to prove, but it is not without foundation, given that it concerns mowing lawns, sweeping streets and sidewalks, landscaping and maintaining flower beds, which are few and far between in Sevlievo, and other cleaning activities in neighborhoods.
Answers that are worth hearing
Despite an almost 90% increase in expenditure on public areas, the overall increase in the approved budget was less than 7%, which undoubtedly raises the question of whether the increase of nearly 15% was not too high compared to the actual increase in expenditure. The question required an explanation in the plenary hall, but since the topic is closed, it remains unanswered for the time being.
The reason for the withdrawal of the higher rate will also remain unanswered. According to media reports, mayors from various political parties are refusing en masse to increase the rate used to calculate the waste collection fee. They cite the uncertain political situation in the country and the desire not to burden household budgets as their motives. However, the real motives are not concern for citizens, who are simply not used to such care. It is more likely that we are talking about the electorate rather than citizens, given the upcoming elections and the hundreds of thousands who demanded change in the streets.
