Resolution of 20 July 2023 by the General Secretariat for Autonomous and Local Financing Complying with Article 41.1.a) of Royal Decree-Law 17/2014

I. GENERAL PROVISIONS MINISTRY OF FINANCE AND PUBLIC FUNCTION 17382 Resolution of 20 July 2023, of the General Secretariat for Autonomous and Local Financing, by which Article 41.1.a) of Royal Decree-Law 17/2014, of 26 December, on financial sustainability measures for autonomous communities and local entities and other economic measures, is complied with.

Royal Decree-Law 17/2014, of 26 December, on financial sustainability measures for autonomous communities and local entities and other economic measures, has as its purpose, among others, the implementation of new mechanisms that allow financial savings to be shared among all Public Administrations and to continue helping Administrations with greater financing difficulties and promoting those that have managed to overcome them.

Among those mechanisms, and with regard to local entities, is the creation of a Financing Fund for Local Entities, and within it, a compartment called the Order Fund, which aims to enable the redirection of the situation of municipalities at financial risk.

Specifically, Article 39.1.a) of that norm provides, with regard to adherence to that compartment:

"Municipalities that have complied with their obligations to remit economic-financial information, in accordance with the regulatory framework of local treasuries and budgetary stability and financial sustainability, and are in a situation of financial risk, may apply for adherence to the compartment. Financial risk is defined by the occurrence of any of the following situations: a) That their live debt as of 31 December of the immediately preceding fiscal year exceeds 110% of current income liquidated or accrued as of that date and, in addition: they are in the situations described in letters a), b) or c) of Article 21 of Royal Decree-Law 8/2013, of 28 June, on urgent measures against public administration delinquency and support for local entities with financial problems, according to the latest data available at the Ministry of Finance and Public Administrations (now Ministry of Finance and Public Function) regarding the settlements of the budgets corresponding to the two immediately preceding fiscal years, or extraordinary measures under that norm have been granted to them. The limits regarding the debt level shall be understood as applicable even when municipalities are subject to a debt reduction plan and are complying with it."

Likewise, as a preliminary phase to the opening of the deadline for the submission by municipalities in the situations described above of applications for adherence to the Order Fund, Article 41.1.a) of the aforementioned Royal Decree-Law 17/2014 establishes that: "The Ministry of Finance and Public Administrations (now Ministry of Finance and Public Function), through a Resolution of the General Secretariat for Autonomous and Local Coordination (now General Secretariat for Autonomous and Local Financing), shall determine the municipalities that may apply for adherence to the Order Fund compartment."

On the other hand, it is necessary to take into account what is provided in Article 46 of Law 39/2015, of 1 October, on the Common Administrative Procedure of Public Administrations, according to which "If the competent body appreciates that notification by means of announcements or the publication of an act infringes rights or legitimate interests, it shall limit itself to publishing in the corresponding Official Journal a brief indication of the content of the act and the place where interested parties may appear, within the established deadline, to know the full content of the aforementioned act and to record such knowledge."

In the publication of the resolution referred to in Article 41.1.a) of Royal Decree-Law 17/2014, of 26 December, the possible infringement of rights and legitimate interests referred to in the aforementioned Article 46 of Law 39/2015, of 1 October, on the Common Administrative Procedure of Public Administrations, is appreciated, since the manner in which it is produced may result in irreparable or difficult-to-repair prejudice to interested parties, which must be avoided.

On the other hand, Article 43.2 of Law 39/2015, of 1 October, on the Common Administrative Procedure of Public Administrations, provides that "Notifications by electronic means shall be understood to have been made at the moment when access to their content occurs."

In compliance with Article 41.1.a) of Royal Decree-Law 17/2014, of 26 December, on financial sustainability measures for autonomous communities and local entities and other economic measures, this General Secretariat issues the following Resolution.

1. The list of municipalities included in the subjective scope of application of Article 39.1.a) of the aforementioned Royal Decree-Law 17/2014, of 26 December, due to the occurrence of any of the situations established in that provision, is determined and is subject to publication in the Virtual Office for Financial Coordination with Local Entities of the Ministry of Finance and Public Function, until the end of the deadline indicated in Article 41.1.b) of the same norm.

2. All municipalities may consult in the aforementioned Virtual Office their inclusion in the cited list through secure and protected access, using the user identification and password assigned to them for the remittance of financial information in that Virtual Office.

3. Within one month from the publication of this resolution, the municipalities included in that list may submit their application for adherence to the Order Fund for 2024, in accordance with what is provided in Article 41.1.b) of the aforementioned Royal Decree-Law 17/2014, of 26 December, and to meet new financial needs of those included in Article 40.1 of this same norm, and in the first additional provision of Organic Law 6/2015, of 12 June, modifying Organic Law 8/1980, of 22 September, on the financing of Autonomous Communities and Organic Law 2/2012, of 27 April, on Budgetary Stability and Financial Sustainability.

4. In accordance with what is provided in Article 32.1 of Law 39/2015, of 1 October, on the Common Administrative Procedure of Public Administrations, this General Secretariat grants an extension of the aforementioned deadline by fifteen additional days, taking into account the circumstances and that the rights of third parties are not prejudiced. The submission deadline, including this extension, will be communicated through the Virtual Office for Financial Coordination with Local Entities.

Madrid, 20 July 2023.–The General Secretary for Autonomous and Local Financing, Inés Olóndriz de Moragas.