Juazeiro: Public Prosecutor's Office requests suspension of salary increase for mayor and council members.

Ceará247 - The Public Ministry of the State of Ceará (MPCE) filed, last Monday (28), a Public Civil Action (ACP) with a preliminary injunction request proposed by prosecutors Francisco das Chagas da Silva and José Silderlândio do Nascimento in order to suspend the increase in the subsidies of the mayor, deputy mayor, municipal secretaries and councilors of Juazeiro do Norte.

On October 27th, the Juazeiro do Norte City Council approved a project that readjusted the salaries of municipal managers and legislators by up to 42,25%. With this, the vice-mayor will receive a salary of R$ 21 and the mayor will receive R$ 33, an amount greater than the salary of the President of the Republic. Council members will receive R$ 12 starting in 2017, compared to the previous salary of R$ 10.

The Public Prosecutor's Office of Ceará (MPCE) is based on a public civil inquiry initiated after receiving complaints of irregularities in the legislative process that approved the increase. The Public Prosecutor's Office of Juazeiro do Norte found that the bills dealing with the subject were presented by the City Council's Board on October 11th, after the municipal elections. This violates, according to the Public Civil Inquiry, the Legislative House's own internal regulations, which set the deadline for submitting a bill of this nature until July 17th of the year prior to the law's enactment.

Furthermore, according to the prosecutors, the matter violates the principles of morality and impartiality, since nine of the councilors who participated in the legislative process were re-elected for the next legislature, thus indicating that they legislated in their own self-interest.

Another irregularity found was the increase in personnel expenses without conducting a budgetary and financial impact study, as required by article 16 of the Fiscal Responsibility Law (LRF), and within the 180 days prior to the end of the municipal managers' term, also violating articles 16 and 21 of the LRF, which prohibit this practice.

Therefore, the Public Prosecutor's Office considers that municipal laws 4690/2016, 4691/2016 and 4692/2016, published in the Official Gazette of the Municipality on November 21st, which instituted the salary increase for managers and legislators of Juazeiro do Norte, would be null and void. "The increase is considered exorbitant, in light of the economic crisis plaguing the country and directly affecting the finances of states and municipalities with the reduction in tax collection and decreased revenue sharing by the Union," argue the public prosecutors in the Public Civil Action.

Finally, the State Public Prosecutor's Office requested that the municipality of Juazeiro do Norte be ordered not to implement the increase in subsidies for political agents and municipal secretaries during the 2017-2020 period, as this violates current legislation and infringes the principles of prior notice, morality, and impartiality. Should the action be deemed admissible and non-compliance occurs, the MPCE (State Public Prosecutor's Office) requested that those responsible for authorizing expenditures receive a personal fine of R$ 10 for each irregular payment.