Following a complaint, an NTA inspector carried out an audit in a municipality of the Region of Central Macedonia, on the legality of the actions and/or omissions of the competent bodies of the municipality during the period 2015-2019 regarding a lease dispute between the municipality and a private lessor of a property used by the municipality for the housing of a school.
Specifically, while the City Council in February 2015 decided to terminate the lease of the building that the municipality had been leasing since 2012 (since there was no longer a need to house the school), the municipality continued to lease the building without a purpose and without implementing the City Council’s decision.
In violation of the provisions of the Law 3852/2010 (“New Architecture of Local Government and Decentralised Administration – Kallikratis Programme), the Deputy Mayors of Education of the period 2015-2019, did not carry out during their term of office (based on the responsibilities transferred to them by the Mayor), the above-mentioned decision of the Municipal Council. In particular, the procedure provided for in the terms of the lease, between the municipality and the lessor, concerning the termination of the lease was not followed.
The lease of the building was formally terminated, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the lease agreement, in 2020 and the lease was handed over to the lessor.
As a consequence of the above-mentioned omissions, as well as following relevant court decisions, a financial impact (loss) for the municipality of 36,450.3€, from the rent payment to the lessor for a building not used during the period of 19.02.2015 - 30.09.2015. This impact could potentially increase significantly further depending on appeal decisions on the landlord's claims for payment of additional rent, the issuance of which is pending, given that the monthly rent amounted to 5,170.00€
The Secretary of the Macedonia-Thrace Decentralized Administration was asked to exercise disciplinary audit over a former Deputy Mayor whose disciplinary responsibilities have not expired.
The Audit Report was also forwarded to the competent Prosecutor's Office for the investigation regarding any criminal responsibilities, as well as to the Committee of Three of Civil Liability of Elected Authorities of the Decentralized Administration of Macedonia-Thrace, in order to exercise its powers to attribute the above-mentioned financial impact.
Finally, the Audit Report includes a specific recommendation to the audited entity, regarding the preparation of a plan every four years to determine the housing needs of the municipality's school units and based on it (plan) to plan for any necessary leasing of school properties from private individuals.