The Harmanli Municipal Council has approved higher fees and service charges set by the municipality, raising the cost of a range of activities for traders in municipal markets, vending machine operators, users of municipal tourist facilities, participants in fairs and festivals, tenants of municipal properties and others.
The latest increase in local charges was proposed by Mayor Maria Kirkova and approved with the votes of the ruling GERB–DPS coalition.
The largest increase – 212 per cent – concerns the fee for a designated or numbered 4 sq m space on the pavements around the Central Square. The charge rises from the previous base rate of BGN 0.50 to BGN 1.56 (€0.80) per sq m per day.
Other fees are increasing by smaller amounts, but virtually every available revenue stream for the municipal budget has been targeted.
The item on the higher charges followed a report on the annual implementation of Mayor Maria Kirkova’s management programme. That report repeatedly described the municipality’s financial position as very good.
This prompted municipal councillor Dilyana Komitova of the Bulgarian Socialist Party to ask why the municipality needed to raise fees if its financial position was so strong.
The response was that the municipality performs social functions but cannot continuously subsidise loss-making activities.
Kirkova’s proposal gave another reason for the increases: the fees had not been changed for almost five years, while inflation and the minimum wage had risen substantially during that period.
According to the administration, the changes are intended to fully recover the municipality’s costs of providing the services, improve their quality and achieve greater fairness.
Parents to pay more for children’s holidays
One of the biggest increases – 193.5 per cent – affects the use of small bungalows at the municipality’s two holiday facilities in Dobrinishte and the Logovete area near Gotse Delchev Hut.
For children, the daily rate rises from BGN 2.00 to BGN 5.87 (€3.00).
The increase for adults is smaller, ranging between 32 and 35 per cent. Prices for other services at the facilities are rising by more than 50 per cent.
The administration says the aim is to cover higher costs for materials, electricity, water and staff, which it identifies in its financial justification as the main drivers behind the increases.
The new prices take effect on 1 May 2026.
They will put additional pressure on small businesses and are likely to feed into higher prices for consumers at a time when households are already facing a difficult economic environment.
Higher fees to sustain the administration instead of digitalisation
Mayor Maria Kirkova says the higher charges are intended simply to cover costs, but most of the additional revenue is expected to go towards administrative salaries.
Nowhere in her proposal does she suggest streamlining the system for collecting local charges or introducing measures to make the process more efficient.
While modern institutions are increasingly turning to digital tools and innovation to reduce administrative costs, Harmanli’s GERB-backed mayor has been running the municipality for more than a decade according to a model that critics say resembles the 1960s.
The difference today is that there are computers – but behind each device are several employees.
And the cycle continues, entirely at the expense of taxpayers.
