This article is from Coastrider
by Fiona Killick.

Property owners in Oasis Urbana 2 part of the La Marina complex were horrified earlier this year when they started to receive bills from the Suma office because their bills were not for the normal amounts they would have expected but for many thousands of euros. The bills had been sent out in order to raise the money to put in place a new sewage system for the area. The total cost of the project is in excess of 5 million euros and we were told by Fini Cánovas president of the local residents association, that the local Town Hall of San Fulgencio is only going to be contributing ten percent of the sum needed and the residents are being expected to pick up the rest, a huge sum that many, being pensioners on very limited incomes, simply cannot afford. Fini said that there are almost 500 families affected by these demands which vary depending on the size of the property but many are in excess of 10,000 euros and some in excess of 40,000. Even those for smaller properties are several thousand euros which, particularly for British residents who are pensioners, will be a large part of a year’s pension. The owners are being allowed nine months to find the money but that is no comfort for a project they believe should be funded by local or regional government. Failure to pay could result in owners facing embargos placed on their houses and bank accounts. “The local Town Hall will not speak to us, “Fini said, “They have passed the whole thing over to the Suma to collect the money.” The Resident’s Association is taking its case to the Public Defender in Valencia this week and their president said they would go to Madrid if necessary to further their cause.

Fini Cánovas advises all owners to record the date they receive their bills on the top of the documents as they have 30 days to lodge an appeal against them.