AGERE, the company responsible for water, sanitation and waste services in the municipality of Braga, will maintain tariffs and prices for services for all users, domestic and non-domestic, throughout 2024. The proposal will be analyzed at the meeting of Municipal Executive, next Monday.
For the Chamber of Braga, this measure represents “a continuous effort to consolidate the evolution of the tariff, even in the face of the general increase in prices registered in previous years”. “In the last two years, the Consumer Price Index (IPC) reflected an average annual variation of 7.8% in 2022 and 4.3% in 2023, however, people from Braga enjoyed a real gain in bills for the ninth year consecutively”, says the Municipality.
AGERE reiterates its commitment to “reduce the difference between the real costs of services and the amounts charged to consumers, without compromising investments in infrastructure and its maintenance”. Furthermore, it maintains the objective of “promoting the rational use of water for the benefit of the environment”.
In the document, it is stated that the tariff freeze “is complemented by other tariff reduction measures adopted in previous years, including the extension of the family water tariff, changes to the social tariff, reductions for IPSS’s, Parish Councils and sports associations”.
These measures include the extension of the family water tariff to all households with four or more people, a measure that “represented a 40 percent reduction in the final value of the water installment”. The social tariff has also been undergoing changes, with the expansion of the base of people from Braga who can access this tariff. IPSS’s have a 12.5% reduction and Parish Councils also benefit from a 20% reduction. Sports associations, with the reformulation of levels, also saw a reduction in water service tariffs of around 7%, on average.
With regard to state fees, AGERE reflects mandatory updates, such as the increase in the Waste Management Fee (TGR) from €25/ton to €30/ton (in the previous year it had increased from €22/ton to €25 €/ton) and updates to the Water Resources Tax (TRH) relating to water and sanitation. These updates will have an impact on residents’ monthly bills and will be visible in the “Payments to the State” area.
