The Thessaloniki Chamber of Small and Medium-Sized Industries highlights the importance of ensuring that municipal fees are fair and reasonable, as well as the need to rationalize them, in a letter addressed to the mayors of the Thessaloniki prefecture, while also proposing measures to achieve this.
The letter was prompted by repeated complaints from members—businesses of the Thessaloniki Chamber of Small and Medium-Sized Industries—regarding high municipal fees and unjustified increases in these fees, even in cases where, due to the municipalities’ inability, there is no reciprocal benefit to the businesses, or even when business owners, at their own high cost, proceeded to beautify the surrounding area of their businesses. At the same time, there are reports from businesses—members of the Thessaloniki Chamber of Commerce—that municipalities are demanding retroactive municipal fees for previous years.
“The business community in our country, and specifically small and medium-sized manufacturers, is reeling from a barrage of price hikes and additional burdens, both in the energy and raw materials sectors and in the cost of transporting products, a situation that creates a constant headache at a time when purchasing power has evaporated.
In this context, given that high municipal fees threaten the viability of businesses—making them increasingly less competitive compared to other countries—we ask that they be rationalized,” the letter states.
In this context, the Thessaloniki Chamber of Commerce and Industry requests:
- A review and rationalization of the excessive increases.
- An assessment of their cost-effectiveness for businesses.
- The establishment of maximum increase limits (e.g., based on inflation).
- Special consideration for businesses that have undertaken the development of their surrounding areas at their own significant expense.
“We are not opposed to the imposition of municipal fees; however, the realities of the current economic climate must be taken into account, as well as strict adherence to the principle of proportionality in the application of these charges.
It should also be seriously taken into account that businesses are the lifeblood of local economies, while their employees are also consumers in these areas, thereby stimulating the municipalities where they work and live,” says the president of the Thessaloniki Chamber of Commerce, Marios Papadopoulos, who signed the letter.