Local taxes rise in several Brussels municipalities

Etterbeek, Koekelberg and Molenbeek are the latest municipalities in Brussels to raise taxes in an attempt to keep up with increasing expenses and declining federal and regional funding.

Koekelberg has increased the surcharge on property tax, Bruzz reports, and the local element to personal income tax is also rising.

Etterbeek also increased its property tax this week, though the personal income tax there is falling.

The surcharges - a supplement to the regional tax rate - in Koekelberg have been set at €3,090 for the past 10 years but will rise to €3,890 next year, and the additional tax on personal income tax will increase from 6% to 7%, making these rates among the highest in the region.

“The municipality's expenditure is increasing faster than its revenue,” the majority parties explained, adding that Koekelberg ended last year with a deficit of €2.7 million.

Molenbeek-Saint-Jean will increase the personal income tax supplement from 6.3% to 7%.

“We must be able to safeguard social investments and the functioning of public services,” acting mayor Amet Gjanaj (PS) said.

A single employee with one dependent child and a gross monthly salary of €4,000 will pay about €66 more in personal income tax per year as a result of the increase, a "modest contribution" that alderman Saliha Raïss (Vooruit) said should also benefit investment in schools, childcare, sports and cultural infrastructure, and the maintenance of public spaces.

“Without this additional income, solidarity policy and municipal investment in this area would be jeopardised,” Raïss (Vooruit) said.

Molenbeek’s housing alderman Dirk De Block (PVDA) pointed to austerity measures imposed by the federal government as a cause for tax hikes.

“While social needs are exploding, the resources available to local authorities are stagnating or declining,” De Block said.

“Municipalities are thus forced to compensate with their own resources.”

The supplementary tax on federal personal income tax and the surcharges on property tax are the main sources of income for the Brussels municipalities, which are finding it increasingly difficult to pay the bills for staff, pensions and political costs.

A number of other municipalities decided at the end of last year to increase surcharges. In Jette, it went from €3,890 to €3,990; in Woluwe-Saint-Pierre from €2,200 to €2,700; and in Berchem-Sainte-Agathe from €3,190 to €3,690.

Etterbeek increased its surcharges for the first time since 1992, from €2,966 to €3,475. Uccle taxes rose from €2,940 to €3,240 and Evere is raising surcharges from €3,800 to €3,990. Like Koekelberg, Evere also increased personal income tax from 5.5% to 7%.

Ganshoren implemented an increase at the beginning of September from €3,240 to €3,880. Saint-Josse-ten-Noode hiked taxes from €2,980 to €4,090, just below the rate in Schaerbeek, which, at €4,191, has the highest property tax in the region.

The City of Brussels announced at the beginning of this month that property tax would rise from €2,950 to €3,457, though those who live in their own homes - instead of earning rental income from the property - will pay less.

Several municipalities, including Koekelberg, are also giving an extra allowance to owners who are domiciled in the property to compensate for the increase in property tax. This allowance varies from municipality to municipality, ranging from €100 to €300.

At the same time as property and income taxes are rising, Brussels-City council announced an increase in the tax on public car parks by 50%.

Each of the 15,000 spaces in public car parks will now be taxed at €99, generating some €1.5 million a year in tax revenue.

The city council says the financial situation is forcing the administration to take numerous measures, including tax increases.

The council decision on the matter also argues that car parks entail additional expenditure for the city in terms of safety, cleanliness and road works.

The car park tax has not been adjusted since 2015, according to the office of alderman Anas Ben Abdelmoumen (PS).

The increase applies to publicly accessible car parks, while the rate for private parking spaces owned by individuals will remain unchanged.