Following a meeting with representatives of the Aptur holiday rentals association, Muro's mayor, Martí Fornés, says that the town hall will review the rubbish tax for holiday rental properties.
It was reported last week that the tax has risen on average by almost 550%, prompting suggestions of possible legal action against the town hall. It now seems that there will be new tax rates that will come into effect in 2019, as Fornés adds that there is to be a renewal of the contract for waste collection following a study that will give a more accurate calculation of the costs of collection, recycling and incineration. This study will cover all residences and not just holiday homes.
Meanwhile, the cost for holiday rental properties has this year gone up steeply and is set at the same rate as that for a hotel place - 67 euros. In fact, depending on the number of places in the property and where it is, the tax can be lower than it was in 2016. An example cited last week was of a property on rustic land with twelve places, for which the rate has risen from 97 to 804 euros. A property with two places on urban land, by way of contrast, has a rate that it is 22 euros lower.
Fornés rejects accusations that the setting of the rate is beneficial to hotels. He points out, for example, that under the current system hotels pay a higher percentage for the cost of incinerating non-recyclable waste than every other type of property in Muro. Yet the amount of this waste that hotels generate is lower.
The study, explains the mayor, will therefore look with greater precision at the costs of waste service for homes, hotels, restaurants and holiday rentals.