A meeting took place yesterday afternoon, at Palazzo dei Bruzi, between Mayor Franz Caruso and representatives of the main trade associations and organizations of commercial activities: Confcommercio, Confesercenti, Confapi, Confagricoltura, CNA and Confartigianato.
The members of the board of the Council for Commerce of Cosenza were also invited to the meeting and, despite having arrived at the headquarters, they subsequently decided to leave due to the delay in starting the work, due to mandatory institutional commitments of the Mayor, already underway at the time of the delegation’s arrival.
Informed of the incident, Mayor Franz Caruso expressed deep bitterness for an attitude that did not take into account the priorities and obligations to which a public administrator is required, reiterating that institutional urgencies cannot be ignored.
However, the Deputy Mayor Maria Locanto, the Councilors Massimiliano Battaglia (Commerce) and Pina Incarnato (Urban Planning), the municipal councilors Francesco Alimena, Ivan Commodaro, Alessandra Bresciani and Andrea Golluscio, as well as the sector manager Francesco Giovinazzo, were present at the appointment right on time.
In his speech, Mayor Franz Caruso recalled the complex amount of activity launched by the Administration to lift the city from the serious financial and administrative problems inherited from the past: “We are working to respond to the numerous needs of our community, which risked paying a very high price for the financial disasters and administrative chaos left as a legacy. Among the categories most in difficulty there are certainly traders, to whom we have always guaranteed attention, compatibly with the needs of public affairs”.
The First Citizen recalled how the Administration has repeatedly asked for concrete collaboration from commercial activities on the issue of arrears of payments, for which an installment plan had already been granted, which was then not respected. “Despite this – Franz Caruso remarked – the Municipality intends to continue its dialogue and support for the sector. So much so that we have decided, as I committed to doing last June, to review the street furniture regulation, inserting a new type of dehors which, less structured and lighter, will allow us further differentiation. In simple terms it means that we will be able to lower, starting from 2026, the calculation coefficient for the tariffs for the occupation of public land”. The administrators present also recalled that the Municipal Council has already approved a further 40% reduction in the coefficients for the tariffs for the occupation of public land relating to food and drink administration activities, thanks to the good financial and budget performance that was managed to be recorded following efficient and effective administrative action. The measure will come into force next year.
Mayor Franz Caruso therefore wanted to highlight that with the approval of the changes to the urban decoration and Cup regulations, the coefficients will be reduced and the consequent reduction in tariffs will be made; which will be lower than those of other neighboring cities.
A new request for the payment of outstanding amounts not yet paid in installments was also examined.
“It is the last possibility we are granting – specified Mayor Caruso -. The installment plan had already been granted at the end of last summer, without there being adequate feedback. Today we are opening a further one, with a deadline scheduled for the first months of 2026, reserved for those who demonstrate real collaboration with the Administration. However, the checks will continue and warnings and sanctions will be sent to those who do not comply”.
Finally, the representatives of the trade associations present expressed their applause for the willingness of the Municipal Administration to meet the needs of traders and for the work of the Urban Planning sector in planning outdoor furnishings, considered fundamental for urban decoration. In this regard, however, a further effort was requested to improve the expected standards for the benefit of an increasingly beautiful and harmonious urban landscape. Lastly, with respect to the economic problems of the owners of commercial activities, the provincial president of the CNA, Michele Marchese, who said he was close to the business world and in collaboration with the public administration, gave information on some financial measures to support the category, highlighting that from his confederation it is possible to obtain financing for carrying out normal activities, also suitable for the payment of taxes and duties, through access to microcredit.