Once upon a time when Virginia Rages, then a frantic opposition councilor of the M5S in the Campidoglio, pressed the Marino Giunta to take into account the opinion of the OREF, considered an independent economic-financial auditing body,
worthy of being listened to carefully.
Today, after the rejection of the 2017-2019 forecast budget by the same auditors, the 5 Star Movement instead tries to minimize the setback of the judgment unfavorable arrived yesterday, blaming the unbalanced calculations on those who previously governed and on the "heavy legacy of the past", to use the same words of the M5S group leader Paolo Ferrara.
The last in chronological order to support this singular thesis was the president of the Budget Commission Marco Terranova, who wrote on Facebook: "A momentary stop, a lot of excellent work done, the inherited boulder of off-balance-sheet debts conditioning an unfavorable opinion . But we don't give up and we will try with all our efforts to overcome this phase. Only for the Romans and for Rome. We will immediately work on off-balance sheet debt to remedy what has been done in the past".
The same line supported yesterday on Beppe Grillo's blog by Andrew Mazzillo, last Councilor for the Budget of the Giunta Raggi: “The assessments expressed today are referable not to the current budget but to critical issues inherited from past administrations. We consider them an opportunity to further improve the fundamental document for administrative action for the next three years”.
In short, as per tradition, the fault would not be the current grillina administration, but the previous ones. No mea culpa, no mistakes made when drafting the text. Arguments which, however, clash with the 46 pages written in black and white by Oref: «The body believes that the public finance space necessary to respect the financial balance is not sufficient in relation to the needs that could arise with respect to off-balance-sheet debts, potential liabilities and other critical issues highlighted"
In summary: the Giunta Raggi would not have adequately considered the off-balance sheet debts (215 million euros), nor the potential liabilities, underestimated by those who drew up the accounts. Furthermore, according to the auditors, the problems concern the expected revenues, none of which are structural, the collection of taxes and the almost total absence of a project to rationalize the subsidiaries. A clear and peremptory judgment that has more to do with the (erroneous) calculations made than with the actual accounts, on the imbalance of which there has never been any doubt.
Therefore, starting from 2017, Rome will be under temporary management and he will have 2 months until February 28 to remedy the rejection and present another budget.
This afternoon, Wednesday 21 December, yet another tile hit Virginia Raggi. The Anac has rejected the promotion of Renato Marra, Raffaele's brother, as head of the Tourism Department. According to the national anti-corruption authority, "there is a conflict of interest". Now the documents will end up in the prosecutor's office, which could proceed for abuse of office against the mayor's loyalist Virginia Raggi.
