Nedelino municipality entered 2026 facing a huge shortfall in its “waste collection and cleanliness” budget, with more than €160,000 to be covered from the general municipal budget. More troubling than the financial gap itself is the way the Municipal Council approved the 2026 waste management plan on 26 March – after the legal deadlines had expired, unanimously and without receiving a clear explanation for a nearly 17-fold increase in one of the expenditure items. When asked whether there might have been a mistake, mayor Boyan Kehayov gave an uncertain answer: “Most likely there isn’t a mistake, that’s the price, but I’ll check it myself.”
Waste charges do not cover the cost – the difference comes from the municipal budget
The local authorities have presented the decision to retain the existing method of calculating the municipal waste charge – based on a rate applied to the tax assessment of properties – as a measure of stability for residents. But that apparent stability conceals a serious budget problem. Projected revenue from the charge covers only part of the actual cost, with the remainder to be financed from the municipality’s own funds.
The total value of the approved 2026 plan is €310,509.45. Expected revenue from the municipal waste charge amounts to €123,066. An additional €26,616.36 will come from statutory deductions under Article 64 of the Waste Management Act. Even so, a shortfall of €160,827.09 remains, to be covered by the municipal budget.
In other words, the residents of Nedelino will once again pay the difference for their waste – not directly through the waste charge, but through municipal funds that could otherwise be spent on roads, pavements, street lighting, social services or other local needs.
A waste plan approved in March despite a January deadline
The financial issue is accompanied by another, no less important one: why was the 2026 plan approved only on 26 March?
Under Article 66 of the Local Taxes and Fees Act, the annual waste management plan must be approved by the municipal council before the deadline set out in Article 84(4) of the Public Finance Act. The law also requires the draft decision, the report by the submitting authority and the plan itself to be published on the municipality’s website for public consultation.
Where the state budget for the relevant year has not been adopted by 25 December of the previous year, the plan must be approved by 15 January. For 2026, the state budget had not been passed by 25 December 2025. Instead, an interim law regulating revenues and expenditure until the adoption of the state budget was enacted.
That legislation specifically provided that where a municipal council had not approved the plan under Article 66(3) of the Local Taxes and Fees Act by 31 January 2026, the waste charge for 2026 would continue to be collected at the rate in force on 31 December of the previous year, subject to the exceptions set out in the law.
The decision adopted by the Nedelino Municipal Council on 26 March therefore raises an additional question – not only why some expenditure items have risen so sharply, but why the plan was approved after the relevant deadlines had already expired.
Almost 17 times more expensive – on the “I’ll check it myself” formula
During the council meeting, councillor Boyko Simeonov asked why the cost of regional waste management had risen from BGN 2,114.92 (€1,081.34) in 2025 to €18,281.46 in 2026.
“What is the basis for increasing it to €18,281.46 this year? That means an increase of seventeen times. Is this some kind of mistake?” Simeonov asked.
Mayor Boyan Kehayov attributed the increase to a new public procurement procedure for the landfill in Madan.
“We have a difference and I’ll explain where that difference comes from. At the end of 2025 we had a new public procurement for the management of the landfill in Madan, under new conditions and at new prices. We have an increase in the cost of waste disposal because the operator running the landfill in Madan now has new prices. That is why there is a difference, and they are most likely based on that, but these are management costs. These are fees that have to be paid,” Kehayov said.
Yet it remained unclear why a plan worth more than €310,000 had been submitted for approval months after the legal deadlines and before the administration was able to give a definitive answer about one of the expenditure items that had risen most sharply.
Not a single vote against
Despite the question raised and the mayor’s promise to look into the matter further, the municipal council did not postpone the decision or request additional information.
The Budget and Finance Committee gave the proposal a positive opinion with four votes in favour and none against or abstaining.
In the council chamber, the plan was approved unanimously – 12 votes in favour, with no votes against and no abstentions.
Even the councillor who had raised the issue of the unexplained increase had announced in advance that he would support the proposal.
The local parliament therefore approved more than €310,000 in spending on waste collection and waste management while leaving unanswered the question of why one expenditure item had increased almost 17-fold.
Decision No 294 is an example of how major budget decisions can be taken by local government – not after a full debate, verified calculations and a procedure completed on time, but on the basis of explanations that the person presenting the proposal himself had yet to verify.
The decision also illustrates how Nedelino manages its residents’ money. When the waste charge is not enough, the difference comes from the municipal budget. And when the annual plan is approved after the statutory deadlines have expired, another question inevitably arises: how well does Nedelino’s local government know the Public Finance Act?
