ESHOT's 2022 Budget Approved

ESHOT's budget for 2022 was accepted by the majority of votes in the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Assembly. ESHOT will strengthen its fleet with 100 electric buses and 33 midibuses next year.

Mayor of Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Tunç SoyerStating that the legal incentives they receive by fulfilling their obligations should not be presented as a favor by the members of the government, “Our demand is the investments made by the state with its own preferences. İzmir pays 40 taxes and receives 1 investment, a situation that needs to change for us," he said.

The 7th meeting of the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality's November council meeting, Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Tunç Soyer under the direction of Ahmed Adnan Saygun Art Center (AASSM). The performance program and budget of the ESHOT General Directorate for the 2022 fiscal year were approved by the majority of the votes after the discussions. ESHOT's 2022 revenue budget was accepted as 1 billion 414 million 35 thousand TL, and its expenditure budget was 1 billion 821 million 600 thousand TL.

“I want to take off my hat and applaud”

In the meeting, group representatives of political parties expressed their views on the budget in turn. Republican People's Party (CHP) Group Deputy Chairman Mustafa Özuslu, who gave information about the activities of ESHOT in 2021, explained the savings provided by the institution with figures and said, “I will talk about the financial advantage of 364 buses purchased in one go. This is really a financing skill, a clear example of the publicist bureaucrat mentality. The savings obtained from the purchase of 570 buses purchased for 5 million TL with a maturity of 5 years and a guarantee of 364 years is 293 million TL. If it was bought with a bank loan, 5 million TL would have to be paid to the banks at the end of 863 years. When the VAT exemption of 102 million TL is included, the amount remaining in the municipality's coffers and which will constitute a source for new investments reaches 395 million TL. I want to applaud the contribution of the buses, which are brought almost for free, to the people of Izmir, by the purchases made with the technique of creating financing within themselves," he said.

1 million TL load came to ESHOT's budget in 51 day

Drawing attention to the rapidly increasing fuel prices in Turkey, Özuslu said, “There has been a 14 percent increase in diesel fuel in the last 33 months. We use 51 million liters of diesel per year. There was a 1 lira raise yesterday. The burden on ESHOT's budget alone was 51 million TL yesterday. We are calling out to our AK Party friends. Let them bring VAT and SCT exemption in public public transportation. This contributes to the reduction of the fire in ESHOT to some extent.”

“ESHOT hasn't been getting a raise for 14 months, while there is a raise every night”

CHP Group, who took the floor in the session SözcüSü Nilay Kökkılınç said, “ESHOT has not made any tariff changes for 14 months. While the exchange rates change every night and a product is increased every night, ESHOT has been continuing with the same tariff for 14 months.”

“We need to increase sea transportation”

Speaking at the end of the session, Izmir Metropolitan Municipality Mayor Tunç Soyer, supporting the views of the council members on increasing maritime transportation, said, “We need to integrate land transportation into sea transportation much more. The share of sea transportation in urban transportation is around 3 percent. We need to increase this rate,” he said.

Public interest first

Criticizing the fact that the Izmir Metropolitan Municipality benefits from certain legal incentives, Mayor Soyer said, “These are the rights that are legally given to everyone. It is certainly not a blessing that we are receiving it. What we demand is their distribution shaped by the investments made by the state with its own preferences. İzmir pays 40 taxes and receives 1 investment, a situation that needs to change for us. That's why we call this demand this way. It was said that 'all projects are finished on time under the AK Party government'. Zafer Airport in Kütahya was completed on time and 1 million 317 thousand passengers were guaranteed. 7 thousand 397 people used it. 9 million Euros will be paid for 5,2 months. In short, sometimes being finished on time may not mean much in terms of public interest. We also see them as a realistic government. With the knowledge of these, we are trying to act as a municipality in İzmir,” he said.

ESHOT's prominent goals for 2022

Among the 2022 targets of ESHOT General Directorate, apart from providing public transportation service, the prominent service titles are as follows;

• ESHOT will add 100 electric buses and 33 midibuses to its fleet next year.
• With the renewed fleet, important cost items such as depreciation, fuel, maintenance-repair and spare parts will decrease significantly in the next year.
• Solar power plant (GES) investments that have saved more than 4 million TL to date, Gediz, Karşıyaka It will be implemented on the roofs of its garages in Ataşehir and Buca Adatepe, increasing its share of savings.
• The current number of 110 female drivers will be increased to 140.
• The maintenance and renewal works of worn-out vehicles in the ESHOT fleet will be implemented in the entire vehicle fleet.
• The İZTAŞIT Project, which started in Seferihisar and which enables the integration of individual transporters in the surrounding districts into the public transportation system, will be expanded.