Municipal taxes go to pockets of unpaid workers in Taibeh

Taibeh municipal workers, some of whom have not received salaries for two years, have come up with an original way of ensuring some income: Have residents pay municipal taxes directly to personnel in the tax collection department. According to the system, which operates under the virtual sponsorship of the municipality, the worker reports the payment to the department, which then marks the resident's bill as paid.

However residents have been taking advantage of the workers' economic distress by asking for the workers to give them a discount. "They have no choice. It's this or continue with no income whatsoever," the city workers committee head, Salwa Masarwa, said. These "discounts" mean the workers are receiving less than the sum they are reporting to the city.

There are 300 workers in the Taibeh Municipality and another 70 pensioners. Some of the workers are destitute. Masarwa, a social worker with two university degrees, is one of them. "I can't live with dignity, although I come to work every day. They are stealing not only my livelihood, but also my self-respect," she says.

Masarwa, whose husband is a teacher, has four children. She says she can't give her eighth-grade son NIS 5 to buy a Coke at school. She sent her 16-year-old daughter to work two years ago to help support the family. "What kind of feeling is that when I have to ask her for money for food and for social events?"

Masarwa says she is aware of cases in which some workers gave residents major breaks in payments. "It's a crime. They become beggars. What are they supposed to do when the checks they take bounce?" she says.

A number of Taibeh's municipal workers were interviewed for this article. They refused to give their names for fear residents might react violently if their identities were revealed. One of the women workers said Tuesday, "we have no choice. We have to make a living. So sometimes its better to compromise over a few thousand shekels to get part of a salary."

The chairman of the opposition on the Taibeh city council, Yusuf Shahin, called the system "a city management approved shake-down."

"It would be another matter if we were talking about a contractor who is shaving off a few percentage points from his profit, but they are getting minium wage," he said.

The "offset" procedure has become a well-oiled machine. Information on residents who owe large amounts is a closely guarded secret, by those who work in the tax department. "Those who are well-connected can bring in payments from the big fish. The regular workers get the small-fry, those who owe small amounts. We have to go to them, to relatives, neighbors, acquaintences, and beg them to pay," a worker said.

All Arab municipalities experience low collection rates. The "offset" system allows them to report higher collection rates. According to the Interior Ministry, the "offset" system has become a permanent fixture and the ministry said the accountant supervising the Taibeh municipality has received strict instructions to stop the practice.

Taibeh's mayor, Abed al-Hakim Haj Yihiyeh told Haaretz Tuesday that he is unaware of such instructions. "We can't know what's going on outside the municipality," he said. "What interests us is the good of the worker. and we are looking for every way possible to allow workers to get their salaries not by means of the city's attached bank accounts. What choice do we have? The worker will have nothing. If the procedure causes problems, the workers shouldn't use it," the mayor said.