The political year is not over yet, but this Mayor of Cordoba You are already sitting in front of the most unpleasant hand: the Budget 2026. This piece, part technical document and part survival statement, has a double impact that is as unpleasant as it is unavoidable. On the one hand, the neighbors ask less taxes. On the other hand, their locations can no longer adjust by an inch without endangering basic services Services. And in the middle, as always, she: the first counter Conditionthose who “show their face when nation squeeze, province Cuts and social demand increases.”
The debate took place unscripted at a luncheon at headquarters Edisur GroupIn Feathers. There, the company’s president, Horacio Oarga, emphasized the need for agreements between the public sector and the Private. “Manantiales was the first public-private agreement in Córdoba,” he said. Then it was time for the trigger that was already ringing in every community office: “What happened there?” national election “Did you give them leeway to adapt?”
In a climate of “candor,” the mayors described the new fiscal ecosystem: no longer worksServices that now “yes or yes, have a price” and the obligation to get creative in order not to disappear financially. Still, they are convinced the outcome will be mixed: less traditional politics, more management and agreements with private parties. And they all admit the same thing: 2026 will not forgive improvised.
Payment of salaries and bonuses for public employees: Province agrees to provide assistance to municipalities
“Duty taxpayer” and new political mandate
It didn’t take long for the mayors to pick up the gauntlet. The first to answer was Cecilia Garay (Villa del Totoral), who bluntly explained the context of his management: “It depends on the political situation you have in your area Milei It may or may not be a threat. In the case of adjustment, we did it from day one, after 20 years with a devastated government, with big debts and nothing.” Garay, who inherited a virtually bankrupt municipality, added: “The source of the work does not necessarily have to be the municipality, the private sector is the one that actually provides real work.”
He followed her Mariángeles Arneudo Galfre (First river), with a tense political admission: “This Milei The election victory gives us certainty back Making decisions that might have been more disturbing and abhorrent in a different context.” And he reiterated the new financial education that affects everyone: “It is very crazy that we have to explain this.” everything has its price“.
The scene heated up as the mayors began to describe what was happening to them on the street. They all repeated the same paradox: voting for neighbors Attitude on… but they demand Current condition below.
Then it appeared Javier Riveri (Jovita), who broke the resulting atmosphere with a joke: “If I had known that the pandemic would hit me and then all this would happen, I would stay at home.” And with a call for civic coherence, he spoke about his neighbors: “A Milei They forgive him everything, which is duplicity, because they demand it of me. “They want to pay 2 pesos and have first-class service.”
Collect the irredeemable
Of the Milk basin South, Raul Mariscalchi (Cabral Creek), drew a conclusion that was repeated throughout lunch: “I have an obligation to do this charging Anything that hasn’t been calculated, even if it makes me unfriendly. The guidelines of Milei They give you this opportunity.”
In The fig treeslike he said Gianfranco Luchessithe problem wasn’t that Evadebut the Non-payment culture: “People weren’t used to paying for water, so we decided to move forward with a strategy that worked in other places: for the neighbor who doesn’t pay, we painted the tap red. The warning worked: a lot of people came to fix the situation.”
The increase in contributions to the fund puts the unions on a war footing and sparks debate in the unicameral parliament
In this sense, Luchessi claimed that “no one is used to paying in the cities or smaller towns”. And he gave as an example a former mayor from Las Higueras, which has not paid for water since 2018: will be one of the first to be sanctioned.
Franco Villar (The Playosa) summarized the drama of the Participation Autumn: “With this issue we lost 480 million pesos in a year,” indicating the lack of money that begins in the country and continues in the province. And he added: “Whatever we stop, we can’t use Milei as an excuse,” a sentence that brought an unpleasant truth into circulation.
Public works and creativity for survival
At some point the mayors agreed without nuance that the public work National is dead and Provincial is in ruins. The only way out is to manage, negotiate and outsource. Matias Ramirez (no no) explained it with a sentence that almost resembles a municipal manifesto for 2026: “We did not charge fees for public works until two years ago… The adjustment and management of the money forces us to tell the neighbor.” everything has its price“.
Juan Panicelli He introduced himself as the first mayor of Tyrolean colony that “after 40 years, he does his own work, pays zero pesos and makes agreements with the industry.” Private“. Carlos Oviedo (Villa Cura Brochero) took the debate to another level: the tourism imbalance. “People move to the mountains during the season and Cordoba capital continues to charge the same contribution without providing the same services. We would have to rethink how these funds would be distributed to the mountain towns.” There was a moment of complete agreement at the table when the mayor of Cabral said: “What unites us all is this question breed. “I feel like none of us who are here belong to any caste,” he said. The sentence relaxed and at the same time showed that emotional exhaustion this is noticed in every municipality.
guests
The lunch was attended by Matías Ramírez (Nono), Javier Riberi (Jovita), Raúl Mariscalchi (Arroyo Cabral), Franco Villar (La Playosa), Gianfranco Luchessi (Las Higueras), Cecilia Garay (Villa del Totoral), Carlos Oviedo (Villa Cura Brochero), Juan Panicelli (Colonia Tirolesa) and Mariangeles Arneudo Galfre (Río Primero).