Most of the Municipal Assembly approved Praia da Vitória City Council’s budget proposal. There were 16 votes in favor, five abstentions, and nine votes against, all from the PS (Portuguese Socialist Party). The budget for 2024 amounts to around 14 million euros. Praia Ambiente has a budget of 4.2 million euros, and the Praia Cultural Cooperative has 3.67 million euros.
Current revenue is 12.6 billion euros, while capital revenue is 1.3 billion euros. Current expenditure is expected to reach 11.6 billion euros, and capital expenditure 2.2 billion euros.
“In terms of revenue, we highlight the continued strong dependence on revenue from the State Budget, which totals around 9.4 million euros, contributing 68.1% to the total revenue of this budget,” said the Mayor of Praia da Vitória, Vânia Ferreira.
This budget still doesn’t include the increases in transfers from the State Budget voted a few weeks ago, and this is an issue that will be dealt with in the first budget review of 2024, she said.
“In this budget we have the opportunity to think about and implement various investments that should be structured for Praia da Vitória. As of January 2024, we will have to meet in the Municipal Assembly so that a first review can be carried out so that we can take in all these funds, but also all the projects that we can accept,” she said.

Vânia Ferreira recognizes that it is necessary to invest in schools
SCHOOLS
The rehabilitation of school grounds in the municipality is one of the investment priorities, according to Vânia Ferreira.
Since taking office, the Mayor of Praia da Vitória has carried out some interventions in the schools in the municipality that were in the worst condition.
Despite this, she says that “all the schools, even the ones that have been intervened on more recently, have problems. In such a short space of time, we have carried out some refurbishment work, but not the investments that they really need.”
He also added that “we are working on an application that could be very beneficial for us in terms of rehabilitating the school grounds, in which we are only responsible for 15% of the investment, depending on what we are awarded”.

LAJES BUSINESS PARK
The construction of the Lajes business park was a project that was postponed after the TC refused approval.
Vânia Ferreira says that in this budget, there are amounts earmarked for acquiring some land that belongs to this project.
“This project has already been revised so that it can enter this new community framework, as was our commitment,” she said.
She admits to “reducing the project so that it can be applied for in two phases. What is certain is that we have to give the go-ahead and get these projects started for the sake of our economy, but it will be done in the light of the amount we can afford.”

in Diário Insular, José Lourenço, director

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Cultures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance)  at California State University, Fresno.