The Ministry of Environment will support ‘green communes’ – thanks to a new program of the National Fund for Environmental Protection, communes which half of area is occupied by national parks and which will conduct pro-environmental investments can count on financial support.
The new program of the National Fund for Environmental Protection and Water Management will be realized in years 2015-2020.
Financial aid will support these communes, which half of area is occupied by national parks, nature reserves and Natura 2000 areas. Index of tax revenue per capita in such local governments must be less than 92 percent of tax revenues index for all communes, in accordance with the principles laid down in the Act on income of local government units.
Depending on the type of investment (e.g. construction or modernization of sewage treatment plants, construction of waste collection points or reclamation of soil), local governments can count on:
- increased levels of cancellation of a loan,
- reduced interest rates,
- increased level of intensity of funding,
- lowered minimal grant / loan threshold.
– We will monitor how the presented offer is used. If after a year it will be found out that the program does not sufficiently fulfill its task, there will be corrections – Polish Press Agency quotes the Minister of Environment Maciej Grabowski.
The Ministry informed that also the National Forests offer support to green communes. Last year the National Forests allocated nearly 9.5 million zlotys for joint ventures with local governments. For this year approximately 16.5 million zlotys is planned. As announced, e.g. in 2013-2014 in the Pomeranian Voivodeship, the Ustka Forest District together with the Management of County Roads in Słupsk undertook joint reconstruction of the county road Orzechowo-Przewłoka. The value of this investment is more than 850 thousand zlotys, where more than 60 percent is the Forest District contribution.
The Ministry noticed that more funding for communes will be brought by the amendment to the Act on local commune government as regards forestry tax. The payer of such a levy to the local governments are the National Forests. The amendment envisages i.a. elimination of the preferential (reduced by 50 percent) tax rate for protecting forests.
According to the ministry, such a change will bring an increase of revenues for the commune’s budgets, often the poorest, located in areas devoid of industry, in which forestry tax is a significant part of their budgets. According to the ministry’s information, communes would have in hand nearly 53 million zlotys more. In 2013, the National Forests, paying forestry tax transferred 167.6 million zlotys.
