Qassis: 100 Million Shekels Annual Budget for Ramallah Municipality, One Quarter for Development Projects

SadaNews - The Mayor of Ramallah, Isa Qassis, announced that approximately (25) million shekels of the total (100) million shekels budget of the municipality is allocated for implementing development projects.

Qassis indicated in a meeting with "Economic Life" that the municipality has completed development projects this year costing over (73) million shekels.

Qassis revealed the opening of a sports village next month after completing the works at a cost of (17.5) million shekels, in addition to the imminent handover of the second phase of the circular road project in the city, supported by a Chinese fund reaching 10 million shekels.

The municipality has also completed the establishment of the Ramallah Mixed School to accommodate (470) students at a cost of (15) million shekels, as well as the construction of a central station and a sewage treatment network at a total cost of (31) million shekels. Below is the text of the interview:

An Attractive City for Investments

Ramallah today represents an important economic and commercial center in the West Bank. What challenges does this situation impose on the Ramallah municipality?

Ramallah has been a magnet for investments since the establishment of the National Authority, whether it be banking administrations, insurance companies, or even large investment companies like the Palestine Stock Exchange and the Palestinian Monetary Authority. Here arises the question: What distinguishes Ramallah from others and enables it to attract those investments, despite not being the largest city in the West Bank in terms of both population and existing industries?

I believe the clear and obvious reason for everyone is that over (117) years of the municipality's existence, there has been a vision to make the city open, optimistic, and development-friendly, accommodating everyone who wishes to live here, regardless of their social status, or those wanting to invest in it. This diversity has provided an opportunity to attract investments, especially in real estate development, which peaked in 2007, as Ramallah took the lion's share in this field. This drove companies and their public administrations to center in Ramallah, which has turned into a financial, economic, and administrative hub with most national authority institutions present.

This situation has naturally created obligations on the municipality, and despite not receiving its fair share of governmental support commensurate with the current development, its residents have led this development process. However, certainly, the price of this has been additional burdens such as road congestion and overcrowding, along with an increased demand for building permits for new structures and for paving many streets in the city that were not on the municipality's priority list. Nevertheless, Ramallah did not receive any additional governmental support that distinguishes it from other cities.

Revenues and Expenses
In a recent meeting with neighborhood committees in the city, you mentioned that the accumulated debt on the municipality reached about 90 million shekels. What caused this deficit? How has the current economic situation impacted the municipality's revenues?

The financial problem faced by the municipality started in 2020 with the COVID-19 pandemic, which harmed various sectors, negatively affecting the municipality's revenues. Additionally, the practices of the occupation towards the National Authority created financial burdens reflected on various municipalities, as the Ministry of Finance was collecting property tax, and due to the financial crisis caused by the occupation through the deduction of clearance funds, the National Authority was unable to meet its obligations to the municipalities in 2020, 2021, and 2022.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the municipality played a fundamental role in health and service, in addition to building a field hospital supporting the work of the Ramallah Hospital - Palestine Medical Complex, which incurred high costs to meet the needs of the country and citizens for a safe, sanitized environment. Therefore, the municipality took it upon itself to address street and facility sanitation.

The municipality also took on the task of disposing of medical waste during that period, leading to additional expenses coinciding with the decline in revenues that should have been transferred from the government to the municipalities. Prior to the war, we had completed the Manara Complex with bank facilities amounting to (44) million shekels, which increased the public debt on the municipality. Municipalities conduct their projects under the prevailing circumstances with financial difficulties, but at the same time, they need wisdom in managing their resources.

The municipality's annual budget is about (100) million shekels, and the public debt has reached about (90) million shekels, half of which is about banking facilities for establishing the Manara Complex. However, this debt did not affect the municipality's obligations, particularly regarding the payment of salaries, which are paid regularly. For instance, we do not suffer from job inflation; the number of municipality employees is (453), with a payroll that today amounts to about (3.2) million shekels, up from about (2.7) million shekels a few years ago. The municipality has resorted to hiring day laborers recently, based on its needs, as well as its community role regarding the increasing unemployment problem in the country due to current conditions.

Regarding citizens' commitment to pay for services provided by the municipality, it usually reaches about 70%, and we haven’t been much affected by the repercussions of war. However, we were of course impacted by the decline in payments for craft and industry fees, as many commercial facilities shut down due to the adverse economic conditions accompanying the COVID-19 pandemic and the war. Changing a shop selling one commodity to another has become a phenomenon in Ramallah, reflecting the rising operating expenses of those establishments amid falling revenues. Thus, we sometimes have to handle this matter flexibly by giving clearances and installment arrangements on due amounts.

Overall, the municipality's annual expenses reach about (35) million shekels in salaries for employees, and about (36) million shekels in expenses for services provided by the municipality, while we receive (20) million shekels from service fees, indicating that the cost of services exceeds what we collect from fees by about (16) million shekels. Approximately (25) million shekels from the budget are allocated as development expenses for projects, and sometimes the share of development projects exceeds this amount, and there are about (10) million shekels in debt service, which constitutes interest and payments to banks. It is important to note that there are about (3.5) million shekels in waste transportation costs. Note that the Ramallah Municipality transports waste for the Birzeit Municipality after the waste dump was closed by the occupation nearly a year ago, in addition to transporting waste for the Beitunia Municipality for several years.

Regarding revenues, most of them come annually from property tax valued at (25) million shekels, (15) million shekels from building licenses, and (20) million shekels from service fees. The main problem facing the municipality is that it relies heavily on local revenues in light of limited government and external support.

The accumulated debts owed to the municipality from the National Authority reached about (65) million shekels, and if these were settled, the municipality's financial situation would have been better. It should be noted that most of the municipality's debt consists of loans for establishing development projects.

Soon.. Opening a Sports Village
What about the sports village that you are nearing the completion of? What is its cost, when will it open, and what are the main facilities it contains? How will it reflect on the level of services provided to the city's citizens?

This village represents an obligation of the municipality towards citizens in light of the limited sports fields. There is no city in the world without a sports village, and we expect it to open next September, at a cost of about (17.5) million shekels.

This village is located in the Ain al-Karzom area near the Ramallah Recreational Complex on an area of 22.4 dunams. This project provides an opportunity for citizens to practice various sports activities for recreation and training of sports teams.

The project, bordered by Havana, Vienna, and Teresa Halse streets, includes several modern specifications sports fields, namely: a "football field, a multi-purpose five-a-side pitch, a basketball/volleyball court, and a ground tennis court," in addition to the stands, plazas, seating areas, parking spaces, and all technical requirements and services for athletes and administrators.

Soon.. Completion of the Second Phase of the Circular Road Project
The occupation creates numerous difficulties for various local authorities, especially regarding the expansion of land areas belonging to the municipality. How does this affect the municipality's work?

A few years ago, the previous municipal council submitted a request to the Israeli side to expand Ramallah by about (4300) dunams and received a verbal approval, requesting a written letter, but so far no approval has been given. This would increase the area of Ramallah within the structural plan by about 20%, as the city currently covers around (18600) dunams. The required expansion area includes the areas between the al-Tireh neighborhood and the al-Rihani neighborhood (northwest and southwest of the city). Currently, we managed to breach this area through the circular road project funded by the People's Republic of China, where the first phase was completed at a cost of (3) million dollars, and soon the second phase will be completed at a cost of (3) million dollars (total cost for both phases being around 21 million shekels), and we expect to complete the project that reaches the source of Ain Qinya by next September.

Achievement of Development Projects Valued at 73 Million Shekels
What are the notable achievements made this year by the municipality in terms of infrastructure and what are the plans for next year?

This year, we have achieved numerous developmental accomplishments, the most prominent being the completion of the central station for wastewater treatment and an underground sewage network at a cost of 31 million shekels. This project commenced under the previous municipal council but we completed it this year. We also finished this year the establishment of the Ramallah mixed school on an area of (3 dunams) at a cost of (15) million shekels (excluding the land cost of about 5 million shekels and about one million shekels for building the retaining wall). Thus, the total cost reaches about (21) million shekels, accommodating approximately (470) students.

We are also close to finishing the sports village project costing (17) million shekels, and the second phase of the circular project with Chinese support amounting to (3) million dollars (around 10.5 million shekels).

We have also completed the establishment of a sewage network in the Batn al-Hawa area, connecting (1200) homes for its use at a cost of (8.5) million shekels.

Additionally, the "Maqani" incubator has been inaugurated, which serves as a center for youth entrepreneurs.

It is crucial to mention that we recently completed the development works of the Rashid al-Haddadin Square located on a section of Isa Zeidan Street opposite the Ramallah Municipality, including paving the street and sidewalks, creating a beautiful water fountain, and replacing the lighting, all at a cost of approximately 600,000 shekels, part of which was funded by UNDP with a value of 50,000 dollars.

Projects and Investment Opportunities for Next Year
During its term, this council worked on enhancing investment opportunities with the private sector; the biggest asset for Ramallah Municipality is land ownership, and due to the financial hardship the municipality is going through, we found it prudent to invest in assets through partnerships with the private sector. For example, the Manara commercial complex did not meet our hopes of achieving high revenues from "vacant land," hence we thought of another way to invest in the unoccupied commercial units in the complex, which number (22). To increase our revenues, we proposed investing in land through encouraging solar and green energy projects in cooperation with the private sector, as well as how to establish tourism projects. The idea is not to build on these lands. For instance, we cannot build a hospital on these lands, but we can provide an investment opportunity for a multi-purpose hall, an exhibition ground, a zoo, or a horse racetrack. Thus, we commenced our first project with support from the Turkish Development Agency "TIKA" to establish a solar energy generation project near the Ramallah Cultural Palace, which is an innovative pioneering project.

Regarding the new year, we have numerous projects, including the establishment of a convention center and a technical inspection center for vehicles, containing a traffic department, an insurance company, and a branch of a bank located in the industrial zone in Ramallah. Another project will be established on an area of (35) dunams to serve as a vehicle storage center, which can later develop in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance for a broader project. We will also work on creating a logistical storage area for major distributors of large companies. These three projects started this year and will continue next year. I would like to point out that the municipality has established an investment committee and a sustainable development committee to be added to the other committees functioning within the municipality, with the aim of searching for investment opportunities with the private sector.

Increased Demand for Kiosk Licenses
One may notice an increase in the establishment of kiosks in some streets in the city lately. How have the current conditions affected the demand for licenses for this purpose?

The demand for licenses to establish kiosks is very high; however, we granted (25) licenses, including (14) in one street, and the rest distributed in other locations that we desire, such as places designated for sports pathways. Most of these kiosks began as licenses for stalls that evolved into carts and kiosks, which provides a gauge for the municipality to assess the alignment between requests and need. We have (53) stalls in the city, and their owners are applying for licenses to convert them into kiosks, which indicates the development of these projects led by the youth.

We are part of the local economic development, but naturally while considering the regulations and laws that ensure the preservation of the city’s overall appearance.