President Bozbey requested support from Minister Mehmet Şimşek.

Mustafa Bozbey, the Mayor of Bursa Metropolitan Municipality, stated that he has requested more support from the Minister of Treasury and Finance, Mehmet Şimşek, saying, “Local governments are taking on the duties of many ministries as well. The 6% share is not enough. We have asked Minister Şimşek to increase this and for our debts to be deducted in installments. Since we took office, we have been fully paying our social security and tax debts.” He also made a request to companies importing in Bursa, stating, “Bursa has an import volume of 12 billion. If our importers prefer Bursa while coding their imports, it will provide an additional resource of 300 million lira to the budget of the Metropolitan Municipality.”

Expressing that Minister Mehmet Şimşek welcomed them very warmly and sincerely during their visit in Ankara, Mayor Mustafa Bozbey shared the details during his visit to the İhlas News Agency Bursa Regional Directorate.

Mayor Bozbey noted that he carefully listened to Minister Şimşek’s suggestions, saying, “As municipalities, we receive a 6% share from taxes. We specifically requested that this share be increased. Local governments provide services from birth to death and also take on the responsibilities of many ministries. We truly see that it is very difficult for local governments to survive with just a 6% share. Municipalities are really in a tough situation because they also perform the duties of ministries like the Ministry of Family, Ministry of Culture, and Ministry of Youth and Sports. Municipalities provide services in every area from birth to death. However, as these responsibilities increase, their revenues also need to increase financially. We shared this with the Minister. He told us, ‘You are right.’ This is a decision that will be made by political will. Additionally, we talked about the need for municipalities to increase their revenues, particularly about sharing from vehicle exhaust emissions taxes or similar institutions. He welcomed this positively, stating that he is aware of how many municipalities in various countries operate. We, as local governments, are also striving to increase our revenues.”

Reminding that despite being 4th in population and 3rd in exports, Bursa ranks 12th in per capita share from the central budget, Mayor Bozbey said, “I want to address the companies importing from Bursa. Bursa has an import volume of 12 billion. We have a request from companies importing from Bursa. Please pay attention to the import codes; if they enter the Bursa code while making imports, a share from the imports will come to our municipality. Currently, we are making approximately 12 billion lira in imports. With this code, we will gain an additional income of about 300 million lira. Therefore, I want to express that I expect this especially from the business world. In addition, we have an understanding that will generate additional revenues to increase our income in various areas. We are also in talks for 20 large companies registered with other tax offices but located in Bursa. We are implementing a good financial discipline policy. Since we took office, we have fully paid our social security and tax debts. We have no debts; all debts are from the previous administration. We have discussed these with our minister and requested restructuring. We said, ‘If there is long-term restructuring, it will open the way for municipalities.’ We had a positive and nice meeting with our minister. I thank him.”

On the other hand, it is expected that the budget of Bursa Metropolitan Municipality, which is around 40 billion lira with its subsidiaries, will increase to around 60 billion lira for the year 2025 with an increase in line with the inflation rate. It was learned that budget works will begin after the approval of the strategic plan.