Meir Shitrit: Arab residents get assistant grants that are three times what they should be getting as a proportion of the population.
"Arab residents get assistant grants that are three times what they should be getting as a proportion of the population," said Minister of the Interior Meir Meir Sheetrit in a comment on the local government crisis. Sheetrit, was speaking at the 16th annual Israel Democracy Institute Annual Caesarea Conference on national economic policy, which is being held this year in Eilat. He added that the rate property tax collection by Arab municipalities was four times lower than that of Jewish municipalities.
Sheetrit added that a new committee had been formed in place of the Suari committee to determine the formula for calculating the balancing grants to be given to local authorities from 2009. "We drew a plan that includes the Arab sector, which will see the collection rate reach 85%, and local authority heads and treasurers will be personally responsible for delivering this target," he said. "In most places where we appointed an outside committee, the change was drastic," noted Sheetrit.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 2, 2008
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