Municipalities in Minas Gerais close their doors to avoid debt.

Minas 247 - Even though the population suffers from the lack of services, several mayors in Minas Gerais elected last year and sworn in this month found no alternative but to close the city halls. The reason is simple: the inability to pay basic bills, essential to the daily operation of the buildings, such as electricity or telephone bills.

Smaller cities, with fewer revenue alternatives and difficulty obtaining loans, are the most affected. This is the case in Manga and Francisco Sá, in northern Minas Gerais, where mayors Anastácio Guedes (PT) and Denílson Silveira (PCdoB) had to adopt the extreme measure. In Santa Luzia, in the Greater Belo Horizonte area, the city hall has been closed for more than 15 days.

A survey by the National Confederation of Municipalities (CNM) shows that the drop in the Municipal Participation Fund (FPM) has generated a crisis in the coffers of 97,37% of cities in 19 states. In practice, more than 4 cities are having to tighten their belts to pay their bills.

Read below an excerpt from the report by Luiz Ribeiro about the crisis in the cities of Northern Minas Gerais, published this Wednesday (January 9th) by the newspaper State of Minas:

The temporary closure of the city hall was the extreme measure adopted by the mayor of Francisco Sá, in northern Minas Gerais, Denílson Silveira (PCdoB), in the face of the difficulties he claims to have encountered in the municipality. "We closed the city hall because we are unable to respond to the demands of the population," justifies Denílson, explaining that the building will remain closed until Friday. He reports that he also declared a state of administrative emergency due to the chaos he found, as he inherited a series of debts and an empty treasury. The mayor cited overdue payroll debts (R$ 558), a 10-month overdue electricity bill (R$ 80), and a debt with a mobile phone operator (R$ 50). According to him, there are liabilities with the National Institute of Social Security (INSS) amounting to R$ 1,8 million, and with the Municipal Pension Fund, amounting to R$ 590. 

“For now, we are restructuring urban cleaning and trying to normalize healthcare services,” says Denílson. “We are trying to raise awareness among residents about the difficulties they face, hoping to gain the population's trust so that we can reverse this situation.” In the previous administration, the mayor of Francisco Sá was José Mário Pena (PV), who did not run for election nor support any candidate to succeed him. Denílson states, however, that he opposed his predecessor. “Because of this, we suffered retaliation. They did many things to try to hinder our administration,” he believes. The report attempted, but was unable to contact Mário Pena. 

In Manga, in the São Francisco Valley, the new mayor, Anastácio Guedes (PT), also announced yesterday that the city hall will be closed for 15 days so that an audit can be carried out on the accounts and various sectors of the municipal administration. During this period, only essential urban cleaning and health services, as well as the area for payment of fees and collection of municipal taxes, will operate.

Anastácio said he will not be able to pay the December salaries of city employees this month. He reports that his predecessor, Joaquim Oliveira Sá Filho, known as Quinquinha (PPS), left the December payroll, totaling R$ 1,383 million, unpaid. However, only R$ 298 remained in the treasury. “I will try to normalize the situation and pay the January salaries, which is my responsibility. Then, throughout the year, we will pay the salaries of each sector of the city hall each month,” stated the mayor of Manga, brother of state deputy Paulo Guedes (PT).