Kaminis sets out vision of economically independent municipalities

Municipalities should become economically independent of central government with the ability to raise their own revenues and duty to publish their accounts, Athens Mayor Giorgos Kaminis proposed on Friday at a meeting of the Confederation of Greek Municipalities (KEDE) in Ioannina, northwestern Greece.

“The time has come for us to look for new methods of funding,” he said. “The time has come for us to grow up and wean ourselves off central government.”

Kaminis was backed up by Thessaloniki Mayor Yiannis Boutaris, who argued in favor of municipalities having revenue-raising powers.

Boutaris also called for representation within KEDE along party lines to stop and be replaced by representation based on the types of municipalities involved, such as urban, rural and island-based.