The Knesset Finance Committee today approved for its first reading by the Knesset plenum a bill by committee chairman MK Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism) to abolish the drought tax. The tax can only be reinstated at the order of the ministers of finance and national infrastructures and only with the approval of the Finance Committee.
Gafni said that he would seek to complete the second and third Knesset readings of the bill to cancel the drought tax before the Knesset recess.
Water Authority director general Uri Shani said that while there would not be a drought this year, rainfall was not plentiful either. "We said that if there were heavy rains this year, we'd recommend foregoing the drought tax. We're in a grey area; it's been a good year so far, rainfall is well above last year, and 30% more than two years ago. Nonetheless, data show that the situation is still not good."
Gafni presented water bills he received yesterday, and said that they explicitly show that water rates have risen 50%. "I don’t use a lot of water, yet I'll still pay a fortune. There's no place to levy the drought tax; it's wrong at this time. If there's an emergency and a real need, we'll reconsider, but only with the approval of the Finance Committee."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on March 8, 2010
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