Development Minister announces tax incentives and priority funding for localities that agree to voluntary mergers

Localities that agree to voluntary mergers would benefit from tax incentives and receive priority for funding from the central budget, according to Development Minister Alexandru Stoica. The government could cover, for three to five years, the local taxes paid by residents of these localities.

The plan aims to merge, by 2028, 429 localities with fewer than 1,500 residents. In the first stage, the procedure will be voluntary and will require local referendums. Starting next March, mergers are expected to become mandatory, although the specific criteria have not yet been announced.

The minister says that most employees of the dissolved town halls could be taken over by the resulting administration, depending on staffing needs. Staff reductions would be based primarily on retirements and voluntary departures, rather than direct layoffs. Alexandru Stoica says that some mayors could also naturally leave office, given that many mayors of small localities are nearing retirement age.

PSD President Sorin Grindeanu announced that he would ask Prime Minister Luca Niculescu to assume responsibility in Parliament for the administrative reform.