Last update - 00:00 26/09/2006
War in Lebanon cost local authorities in the North NIS 404 million
By Avi Bar-Eli
The damages caused by the Lebanon war to 60 of the 100 local authorities in the North totalled NIS 404 million, according to a preliminary report from the Union of Local Authorities (ULA). The report was based on a survey conducted by the union's economic division.
The ULA studied the general expenses required by the local authorities, their drop in revenues during the war, and the future budgets required to handle the war's implications.
The report relates to authorities that represent 80 percent of the population of the North, some 1.4 million people.
Most of the damages relate to lost revenues, NIS 260 million, mostly from lost property taxes, NIS 146 million. Also the authorities lost NIS 34 million in water payments. Total extra expenses were NIS 100 million for such items as shelters, additional manpower and day camps.
The report itself cost NIS 2.2 million.
The expected additional costs for social and welfare services are estimated at NIS 42.3 million.
The city with the highest expenses reported was Haifa at NIS 65.6 million. Next was Nahariya at NIS 40 million, Carmiel at NIS 24.6 million and Kiryat Shmona at NIS 18.5 million.
The ULA said that every day they were discovering more economic damage as a result of the war, and this needs to be taken into account in the 2007 budget.