Inhabitants of which Bulgarian municipality pay the highest taxes, why are there 120 fewer town halls in our country and how many ghost villages there are does anyone live?
According to the latest data of the NSI for the last year, some changes have occurred in our country that affect the settlements. Before looking at what has changed in the different regions and municipalities, we will check the tax they have been paying.
Local taxes are of several types, and their amount is determined by the respective municipal councils. Thus, the district where the highest local taxes were paid last year is Sofia-city. Highest above the national average are rates on retail trade – BGN 20 per square meter of commercial space, compared to an average of BGN 13 for the country. The transfer of ownership is also above average, as is the tax on taxi passenger transport, which is almost twice as high. According to all three indicators, the Varna region ranks second.
The tax on vehicles is the highest in Burgas. The districts with the lowest taxes are Montana and Vidin, where the tax on retail trade, for example, is as much as three times lower than the national average. In Blagoevgrad and Stara Zagora, contrary to general trends and despite their well-developed economy, the level of local taxes remains low.
Local taxes are the highest in the tourist municipality of Sozopol. The lowest, according to an analysis by the Institute for Market Economy, are in the municipality of Medkovets, Montansko, as well as in the municipality of Vidin itself, not only in the district.
In the past year, NSI also reported a change in the number of settlements in our country. In total, they are a little over 5,250, with 257 towns and 4,999 villages. In almost a third of all these villages, less than 50 people live, and there are 201 settlements without a single inhabitant. The largest part of them are located in the Veliko Oblasts Tarnovo and Gabrovo. Due to depopulation, there are already 121 fewer town halls. A town hall is considered a settlement with a population of over 100 people with a permanent address.
Bulgaria retains its administrative-territorial division into 28 regions and 265 municipalities. The largest region in terms of territory is Burgas, and the smallest – Sofia city. However, what happens to the population in the smaller administrative units – municipalities? 8 of them have a population of over 100 thousand people. These are Stolichna, Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, Stara Zagora, Ruse, Sliven and Pleven. More than 40% of the entire population of the country already lives in them. At the same time, in more than half of Bulgarian municipalities, the population has fallen below 10,000 people. Kyustendil municipality Treklyano is the least numerous, with 552 inhabitants. 9 are the municipalities in our country, on the territory of which there is only one inhabited place, and it is precisely their municipal center. In the population ranking, the municipality that has moved up the most positions in 10 years is Kardzhali. From 19th position, it rose to 16th place.
The three largest cities in our country are also the only ones divided into districts. Metropolitan municipality is divided into 24, Plovdiv – on 6, and Varna – in 5 regions. 1/6 of the inhabitants of the Capital Municipality live in only two of the districts. These are “Lyulin” and “Youth”, each of them numbering over 100 thousand people. Only 8 Bulgarian cities can boast of a population greater than or close to that of “Lyulin” or “Youth”. The population in Plovdiv is relatively evenly distributed, with the most populated being the “South” region. The only Varna region with over 100 thousand inhabitants is “Primorski”.