Financial Committee
The Financial Committee monitors and controls the financial operation of the Municipality, according to Article 72 of Law 3852/2010 (Government Gazette 87/2010, Issue A’).
Members of the Committee
Members
- Evangelos G. Fragakis (President)
- Spiridis N. Diosmakis (Vice-President)
- Angeliki F. Vogiatzoglou
- Vasilios S. Roussakis
- Dimitrios H. Fragakis
- Michail A. Stamatiadis
- Vasilios H. Chimonettos
Alternate Members
- Garifallia M. Patrou
- Ioannis S. Chimonettos
- Antonios I. Fanarakis
- Kitrakis H. Chrysobergis
Responsibilities
A. Responsibilities
The Financial Committee is a collective body responsible for overseeing and monitoring the financial operation of the Municipality (Paragraph 1, Article 72 of Law 3852/10, as replaced by Paragraph 1 of Article 3 of Law 4623/19).
Specifically, it has the following decision-making, auditing, and advisory responsibilities:
– Drafts and proposes the budget plan.
– Monitors the progress of budget implementation and submits a quarterly report to the Municipal Council which presents the financial status of the Municipality, including income and expenditure. This report, which includes any observations from the minority, must be published on the Municipality’s website.
– Pre-examines the accounting report.
– Decides on the approval of reimbursement for travel expenses of the Μayor, Deputy Μayors, and municipal councilors when traveling outside the Μunicipality for official duties. In urgent cases, the Μayor, Deputy Mayor, or a municipal council member may travel outside the Municipality without prior approval from the Financial Committee. In these cases, the committee decides without delay whether the trip was necessary or not.
– Is responsible for the faithful implementation of the budget.
– Decides on the annual staffing plan for each category of personnel.
– Proposes to the Municipal Council the multi-year plan for managing the Μunicipality’s real estate and is responsible for its implementation.
– Decides, with justification, on the modification of the scope or financial terms of contracts, in accordance with the applicable legislation. For the contracts mentioned in the previous paragraph, it approves the acceptance protocol with a justified decision.
– Decides on the preparation of the terms, the drafting of announcements, the conduct and award of all types of auctions and tenders, including those related to projects, studies, supplies, and services, as well as the formation of special committees for the conduct and evaluation, consisting of its members, specialized experts, municipal employees, or public servants.
– Develops its operational regulations.
– Studies the need for loans, determines their terms, and submits the relevant proposal to the Municipal Council.
– Decides on the settlement or the termination of a lawsuit with an object value of up to sixty thousand (60,000) euros. When the object value exceeds 60,000 euros, it proposes that a decision be made by the Municipal Council. A settlement or termination of a lawsuit is not allowed for claims related to salaries, allowances, compensations, legal fees, travel expenses, and generally any form of salary benefits, except for those for which the legal issue has been resolved by a decision of the highest court. The provision of the previous passage, specifically regarding the filing of legal remedies against a decision, does not apply in cases of lawsuits concerning the determination or transformation of the employment relationship between employees and the Municipality. (1)
– Decides on the payment of travel expenses and daily allowances to private individuals who are members of committees or work groups or project management teams established by the Executive Committee or the Mayor, for domestic and international travel undertaken for the performance of services related to their work, in accordance with the provisions of subparagraph D.9 of Law 4336/2015 (A’ 94).
– Performs the duties of the contracting authority for contracts related to projects, studies, services, and supplies, regardless of the budget, except for cases that fall under the Mayor’s responsibility for direct procurement.
– Presents issues related to transparency and e-governance.
– Submits to the Municipal Council the drafts of regulatory decisions of the Municipality, subject to the provisions of Article 73, paragraph 1Bv, and monitors their implementation.
– Decides on the submission of appeals to the administrative authorities. (2)
– Decides on the initiation or non-initiation of all legal remedies and legal actions, as well as on the waiver of such remedies. (3)
– Decides on the hiring of a proxy lawyer and the revocation of their mandate, in Municipalities that either do not have lawyers employed on a monthly salary or those who are employed do not have the right to appear before higher courts, and determines their compensation. It may also assign the provision of legal opinions, only if no lawyers have been hired on a monthly salary. By decision, it may exceptionally assign a lawyer to handle extrajudicial or judicial matters on a case-by-case basis, for issues of particular importance to the Municipality’s interests that require specialized knowledge or experience. In such cases, the lawyer’s fee is determined according to the provisions of Article 281 of the Municipal and Community Code.
– Decides on:
i. the cancellation of debts and the exemption from surcharges under Article 174 of the Municipal and Community Code,
ii. the facilitation of debtors for amounts exceeding one hundred and fifty thousand (150,000) euros under Article 170 of the Municipal and Community Code,
iii. direct assignments to legal entities and municipal enterprises under Article 12 of Law 4412/2016 (A’ 147).
iv. the funding of public benefit enterprises under Article 259, paragraph 1 of the Municipal and Community Code, as well as the approval of the decision by the administrative board of the public benefit enterprise to collect a reasonable compensation under paragraph 3 of the same article.
v. the granting of facilities, equipment, and resources to public benefit enterprises under Article 259, paragraph 4 of the Municipal and Community Code,
vi. the approval of the budgets, balance sheets, reports, annual action plans, and activity reports of the Municipality’s legal entities and enterprises.
– Decides on the acceptance of inheritance, bequests, and donations.
– Decides on the submission of proposals on behalf of the Municipality for the financing of or providing a subsidy for actions, programs, and related projects from national resources and/or European Union resources and/or any other funding body. (Paragraph 1, Article 72 of Law 3852/10, as replaced by paragraph 1 of Article 3 of Law 4623/19 and amended by subparagraph a’ of paragraph 9 of Article 10 of Law 4625/19, subparagraphs c’ and d’ of paragraph 1 of Article 177 of Law 4635/19, paragraph 4a of Article 10 of Law 4674/20, and paragraph 2 of Article 117 of Law 4674/2020).
For the cases (1), (2), (3) of the previous paragraph, the decision is made after the opinion of a lawyer, the absence of which results in the invalidity of the relevant decision. This provision also applies when the Municipal Council decides on the matter, due to exceeding the amount of sixty thousand (60,000) euros in case (1) of the previous paragraph. (Par. 2, Article 72 of Law 3852/10, as replaced by Par. 1 of Article 3 of Law 4623/19 and modified by Par. 3 of Article 10 of Law 4674/20)
From 01.09.2019, the acceptance of a bequest, inheritance, or donation, which is explicitly and exclusively allocated to a community of up to three hundred (300) inhabitants, is made by the Financial Committee, after the agreement of the President. (Par. 5, Article 82 of Law 3852/10, as amended by Article 83 of Law 4555/18)
From 31.08.2019 (the effective date of Law 4625/19), the competence for the specification of credits, where required, is exercised by the Financial Committee instead of the Municipal Council. (Subparagraph e’ of Par. 1, Article 58 of Law 3852/2010, as replaced by Par. 1 of Article 203 of Law 4555/18 and modified by Par. 1 of Article 14 of Law 4625/19)
See here an article from DimosNET with a comparative table of Article 72 of Law 3852/10 as it was before and after the amendment by Law 4623/19.
From 11.03.2020 (the publication date of Law 4674/20), the competence for approving decisions of the boards of directors of municipal water and sewerage companies (DEYA) related to financial matters governed by the provisions of Articles 11 (Special fee for the study, construction, and expansion of water supply and sewage works), 25 (tariffs), and 26 (differentiation of fees) of Law 1069/1980 (A’ 191) is transferred from the Municipal Council to the Financial Committee. (Par. 5, Article 11 of Law 4674/20)
B. Transfer of Competencies from the Municipal Council
From 1.9.2019 (as established by Article 92 of Law 4555/18), paragraph 6 of Article 65 of Law 3852/10 is replaced by Article 72 of Law 4555/18, providing the possibility of transferring competencies of the Municipal Council to the Financial Committee. Where provisions of laws, presidential decrees, and other regulatory acts designate the Municipal Council as the competent body regarding responsibilities that, under Law 4623/19, have been transferred to the Financial Committee or the Quality of Life Committee, the competent bodies for making decisions or approvals will henceforth be the Financial Committee or the Quality of Life Committee. (Par. 18, Article 5 of Law 4623/19)
C. Referral of a Matter to the Municipal Council
The Financial Committee, by a special decision taken with the absolute majority of its members, may refer a specific matter within its competence to the Municipal Council for a decision, if it deems that this is required due to the particular seriousness of the issue. (Par. 3, Article 72 of Law 3852/10, as replaced by Par. 1 of Article 3 of Law 4623/19)
Tourism Development and Promotion Committee
As part of its responsibilities, the Committee:
- Seeks promotional materials related to the gastronomy, tradition, and tourism of the island of Chalki.
- Informs relevant associations about how to participate, the criteria, and the benefits for the local community.
- Provides the Municipality and the community with information on the possibility of inclusion in tourism media, e.g. tourist guides.
- Organizes promotional activities through social networks and maintains an active presence at tourism-related events.
- Makes decisions and convenes meetings for the immediate update and planning of actions.