At the end of August, with two-thirds of the year behind it, the Municipality of Spata–Artemida had spent €1,261,431 of the €18.6 million it had budgeted for works, studies and equipment procurement. This represents 6.8 per cent. The figures are contained in the budget implementation report for the period 1 January to 31 August 2026, which the Municipality published on the ‘Diafania’ transparency portal on Monday 28 September.
Looking at the budget as a whole, the picture is less extreme. Of the €66.16 million in expenditure, €21.09 million has been paid out, i.e. 31.9 per cent. The difference is accounted for by operating costs (salaries, fuel, maintenance, services), which are incurred every month and of which 42 per cent have been paid.
108 items set to zero
In the investments section, there are 126 codes. 108 of these have not received a single euro in payments, and together they total 15.4 million euros. The largest are:
- Flood prevention project for rainwater drainage (the ‘Gipedo’ area, etc.): 3.56 million
- Widening of Agios Dimitrios Road, Phase 2: 3.56 million
- Upgrading road safety and sustainable mobility: 2.24 million
- Completion of the sports centre in Mazareko: 900,000
- Digital transformation of the municipality: 852,515
- Implementation project in urban planning zones: 824,059
- Construction and maintenance of pavements: 150,000
- Construction of a square in block G75 of the Artemida municipal district: 100,000
All four funding allocations totalling 37,000 euros for playgrounds – two for maintenance and two for flooring and equipment – have been set to zero: one pair for Artemida and one for Spata. The contract for the Artemida playgrounds was only signed this month.
There is just one major payment for the eight-month period: €851,935 for the contract to construct and repair the road network in Artemida and Spata, which is financed by a loan from the Deposits and Loans Fund. This is followed by the refurbishment of the 2nd Primary School (€83,093), the roads around the 2nd Secondary School in Artemida (€79,059) and the rubbish bins (€37,200 for each municipal district). The €800,000 project involving the six roads in Artemida has not yet been awarded to a contractor.
There is a reason for the low take-up. Most of the major projects are funded by grants, and the corresponding revenue lines are also at zero. The grants for the flood defences (3.56 million), for Agios Dimitrios (3.56 million) and for road safety (2.24 million) have not even been confirmed. As long as the funds have not been received, the projects cannot be paid for. That is why they usually do not even get off the ground.
Revenue: who pays and who doesn’t
As regards revenue, of the €47.57 million that has been assessed – that is, which the Council has invoiced – €23.55 million has been collected.
Municipal charges for cleaning and street lighting, which are paid via the electricity bill, are being collected as normal: 5.28 million out of 6.71 million, approximately 79 per cent. The picture is different for water. €8.59 million has been assessed, almost double the €4.37 million in the budget, and €3.03 million has been collected, i.e. 35 per cent. The report does not specify how much of this constitutes outstanding debts from previous years.
Fines under the Highway Code have totalled 2.55 million euros, whilst the budget had estimated 900,000. 1.04 million has been collected.
Two items stand out. The first is the tourist accommodation tax, amounting to 0.5 per cent of revenue from guest accommodation. The council had budgeted for 400,000 euros, issued 6,166 tax assessments and collected 2,246. The advertising levy follows the same pattern: €1,866 compared with the budgeted €109,935.
The second is the cash contribution for the ‘Petra Gialou – Voulia – Prokalisi’ area. This is where the business park and the site of Microsoft’s data centre are located. The budget had allocated 20,000 euros, and 1,192,574 were confirmed, of which only 27,545 have been collected. The statement does not specify which property owners owe these amounts. Meanwhile, the €300,000 allocation for road construction within the park also stands at zero. Similarly, in Mazareco, €155,790 in contributions was assessed and collected, whilst the budget had allocated €100.
What’s coming up
On Friday 2 October, the Municipal Committee approved the implementation study for the sports centre in Mazareko and the first set of minutes from the tender process for the six Artemida roads. With four months to go before the end of the financial year, the question is how much of the 15.4 million will be carried over, unpaid, to the 2027 budget.
Source: Municipality of Spata–Artemida, statement of revenue and expenditure budget implementation 1 January–31 August 2026 (ADA 9M5YΩ1X-94E), published on the Diafania portal on 28 September 2026. The individual calculations are by iartemida.gr.
