Homeowners find money taken out of accounts after error at the town hall
The town hall realised the mistake almost immediately and the money was returned, pending proper notification.
Mayor Rosa Cardona and the councillor responsible for the Treasury, Teresa Legay (PP) held an emergency press conference this week after many homeowners in Xàbia found money removed from their bank accounts without warning to meet the obligation to pay the latest rubbish tax.
Councillor Legay explained that the problem originated at the company subcontracted to manage tax collection which generated notification letters with incorrect barcodes – which should not been done in the case of direct debit and payment plan arrangements to avoid duplications – which were not sent out. However, payment demands were sent to bank by mistake on July 1st.
Upon realising the error, the town hall immediately ordered banks to reverse the payments, which were returned to affected accounts within a couple of days. Now, once the errors in the notifications have been corrected, they will be sent out with all the necessary information: details of the new rate calculation system (which is now based on the Cadastral value of each property), information on payment plans, direct debits, and possible discounts for senior citizens, etc. Only once the notifications have been sent out will the money been taken out of accounts, this time with a 1% discount.
The town hall has stressed that the new rate calculation system has been introduced in response to a state legal obligation that required an adjustment between the cost of the service and revenue. In addition, the local government claimed that it has been necessary to increase the tax rate after the previous government approved an increase 1,200,000 euros in the rubbish collection contract.
