The budget foreseen in the LDO (Budget Guidelines Law) is insufficient for the GDF (Federal District Government).

Saulo Araújo and Paula Oliveira, from Agência Brasília

On Wednesday night (8), Governor Rodrigo Rollemberg received, at Palácio do Buriti, representatives of 14 trade union entities. They had access to information about the revenues and expenses of the Federal District's treasury. The objective of the meeting was to maintain the commitment to strengthen the relationship with the most diverse segments of society.

During the presentation, Rollemberg invited the various groups to join the government on issues of collective interest. "We want to establish a pact on what can be positive, in the sense of building consensus agendas for the benefit of the city," stated the governor, who acknowledged the importance of labor unions in approving projects relevant to increasing revenue. "The flexibility of district funds in the Treasury's single account had the crucial support of public employees, especially teachers, and this allowed us to honor many commitments."

The presentation of the figures explaining the budgetary difficulties was the responsibility of the Federal District's Budgetary, Financial and Corporate Governance Chamber (Governance). Despite all the efforts to cut spending, reallocate the budget and obtain loans from financial institutions, the R$ 29.806.304.994 foreseen in the Budget Guidelines Law (LDO) for 2015 is insufficient. According to the forecasts, R$ 33.663.339.869 would be needed. That is, R$ 3.857.034.875 is missing to close the year. "We need R$ 3,8 billion, but if we have at least R$ 1,4 billion, we will be able to meet our personnel commitments," calculates the Secretary of Finance, Leonardo Colombini.

In addition to the R$29,8 billion forecast being underestimated, the expected revenue—through tax collection—is also below expectations. To date, the shortfall is R$807,829 million. The Executive branch also had to include in the list of expenses debts from 2014 to employees (already paid) and suppliers (still outstanding), as well as adjustments totaling R$855 million to be granted starting in September of this year.

There is an expectation of increasing the district's economic revenue by December with the implementation of some measures, such as using money from judicial deposits to pay debts of the states and the Federal District to the Union. The project was approved by the National Congress in the first half of this year and depends on the sanction of the Presidency of the Republic to become law.

Another possibility is the payment by the federal government of debts related to the updating of the monthly value of the Constitutional Fund. According to the law that created the fund, the amount should be updated according to the net current revenue collected in the previous year. In practice, the calculation is based on the estimated value. If the Union acknowledges this, it will pay the Federal District R$ 1 billion in arrears, according to calculations by the Finance Secretariat.

Brasilia is expected to raise an additional R$ 1,2 billion through the securitization of its outstanding debt. The Legislative Chamber approved a bill authorizing the local Executive branch to securitize part of its outstanding debt, currently estimated at R$ 16 billion. According to the proposal, the government will receive tax credits in advance through operations in the financial market.

Savings
The government is working on another front to balance the Treasury. In the first six months of this year, the rationing through the dismissal of non-tenured civil servants reached R$ 77 million. In September 2014, 8.635 people without competitive examinations occupied positions in the local Executive branch. In June of this year, that number plummeted to 4.558, a reduction of 47%.

From January to May, the current administration saved R$ 5,3 million on fuel and official car rentals. A total of 615 liters of gasoline, ethanol, and diesel were consumed, 42% less than in the same period of 2014, when the government spent over 1,4 million liters.

The current administration has also broken with the old practice of using luxury cars. The fleet available to transport state secretaries and other top-level authorities has been replaced by popular vehicles, mostly Fiat Uno. In addition, 50% of the leased cars have been returned—from 1.277 last year to 634 this year—which should provide savings of R$ 11,5 million by the end of the year.

With scarce resources, Rollemberg had to seek creative alternatives to further streamline the government. The transfer of three secretariats to the Mané Garrincha National Stadium, for example, will generate savings of R$ 15,6 million in one year due to space rentals. The Secretariats of Human and Social Development, Economy and Sustainable Development, and Sports and Leisure are located in the sports arena.

Trade union organizations that participated in the meeting with Governor Rodrigo Rollemberg:

Unified Workers' Central (CUT)
Labor Council of the Federal District
- Trade Union Force
New Central Trade Union of Workers
New Central Union of Workers of the Federal District and Surrounding Area
Union of Nursing Assistants and Technicians (Sindate-DF)
Union of Employees in Health Service Establishments of Brasília (SindSaúde)
- Doctors' Union (SindMédico)
- Teachers' Union (Sinpro-DF)
- Union of Public Servants (Sindser)
Union of Public Servants of the Direct Administration of the Federal District (Sindireta-DF)
Union of Radiology Technicians and Assistants (Sintar-DF)
Union of Workers in Public Schools (SAE-DF)
- General Union of Workers (UGT)