Consorzio bonifica - new or old tax ?

I could remember seeing something on this topic a long time ago... Yes, it was in the old Forum. This is what I found: http://www.italymag.co.uk/forums/gardening-agriculture/11781-things-you-need-know-about-wood.html It seems to be a tax for the upkeep of common land. Perhaps you should check with your local council.

Oh, don’t get me started! My accountant goes all red in the face when you mention these Consorzi. Here in South Umbria we have the Consorzio del Tevere Nera which was set up in 1934  by Mussolini’s administration with the aim of clearing up and developing the Terni Basin. In theory, the Consorzio is responsible for 3 wide areas of activity: irrigation, various infrastructures and hydraulic matters. The irrigation is for the plains around the Nera river between Narni and Terni and those on the left and right banks of the Tiber between Baschi and Attigliano. So all the water you see being sprayed over the land in that area is paid for by me! It is also responsible for maintaining all the small provincial and communal roads that connect its Comprensorio with the main roads. Time (the clearing up happened 77 years ago and we still seem to be paying for it) and water has passed under the bridge. Those in the know estimate that the iniquitous tax has brought in €3 million of which 700.000 is used to undertake essential works and 2.300.000 is used for “administrative” purposes, i.e. 22% for “works” and 78% to keep the show on the road! There have been many attempts to get the Consorzio dissolved but it seems that those who were ‘against’ got elected onto a Lista Civica and then used this to get voted onto the Board where they now are enjoying the very privileges they were protesting against. The present Chair of the Board is one such!!!   Every year we get a tax bill (not enormous it must be said, about €20 – of which €15 go into administrative costs and less than €5 for “works” which just confirms what I said above!) and this year the Chairman felt it necessary to justify himself and the work of the Consorzio by informing us that they had cleared the weeds along the roads for which they are responsible and, at the same time, to let us unwilling taxpayers know that, of the 4.400 complaints sent to the tax office, none had been accepted. In fact, any that had gone further up the food chain to the Perugia Court of Appeal had been dismissed with the losers to pay all court costs. The Comune of Terni is trying to get the Consorzio and the tax abolished since, in their opinion, the works they do should no longer be their responsibility but the Region’s under the “tax equity” law for ALL Umbrians. We wait with bated breath… FYI, my parents live just outside Rome near Ostia in a “reclaimed area” which was drained in the 1880’s because the swamp bred malaria-carrying mosquitoes. There have been draining pumps which have been working ever since, except for when the Germans left Rome during the war and broke them up in a “childish reaction at being vanquished” (according to my Mum!) These were then repaired and they are still chunking away happily, keeping the area dry and relatively mosquito-free. My parents don’t pay anything more than their local taxes for the privilege.  

I think you'll find as austerity measures grow, the  Goverment and Comune will dig up any method of raising funds available to them now.

The comune have lost one of their main sources of income: ICI. Building permits are not coming up and to top it all.... austerity measures. They urgently need some source of income to maintain liquidity.

We pay about E250 pa as a 'contribution' for agricultural irrigation in the Val d'Aso area despite that our land is not farmed or used for agricultural purposes. But we have a hefty pipeline and outlet manifold on the land and therefore pay for the service. We asked the Consorzio to be exempted after they managed to bill us after 4 years but without joy.