PS/Gaia proposes free transport, reduce IMI and support for school supplies

Othe councilors of the PS in Gaia propose, within the 2027 municipal budget, a phased implementation of free transportation, a reduction of the IMI for families with dependents and more support for the purchase of school supplies, was today known.

“The first proposal is the gratuitousness of public transport for residents in the municipality, phased. From January 2027, the pass would be free for all pensioners and for all residents over 65 years of age — about 60,000 people, according to the numbers of the City Council itself”, it can be read in a statement sent today to Lusa by the PS councilors.

According to the team led by João Paulo Correia, following the measures in 2027, “in January 2028, the other users would pay less 50% and, in January 2029, the pass would be free for all Gaians, as already happens in the city of Porto since July”.

The second proposal focuses on the program to support the purchase of school supplies Mochila Pronto – formerly called Cheque-Offerta, included in the Gaia + Inclusive Project – in which the PS “proposes to increase by 50% all the amounts allocated, from preschool to secondary school, to professional education and to specialized art”.

“ In practice, preschool support would rise from EUR 20 to EUR 30; in the first cycle, from EUR 30 to EUR 45 in the first two years and from EUR 40 to EUR 60 in the last two years; in the second cycle, from EUR 45 to EUR 67.50; in the third cycle, from EUR 50 to EUR 75; in vocational education, from EUR 50 to EUR 75; and in secondary education, from EUR 65 to EUR 97.50”, also extending the programme that currently covers 40,000 students “to higher education students living in Gaia, with EUR 100 per student”.

The third proposal of the PS for Gaia “ aims to correct a gap that leaves out all families with one and two children”, since, according to the socialists, “the law allows municipalities to deduct 30 euros in the IMI to families with one dependent, 70 euros to families with two and 140 euros to families with three or more”, but the municipality applies only this last deduction.

“ A Galician family with a child or with two children today has no discount on IMI, when the law allows it to have”, says the local PS, who intends to extend these deductions to the maximum permitted values.

The socialist councilors state that the main objective of their proposals for 2027 is to “increase the disposable income of the Gaiense families”, because “there is money, the result of the good financial situation inherited from the previous mandate and the inoperance of an executive who promised everything and has not done anything yet”.

“The municipal budget of 2026 amounts to EUR 328.7 million, to which a management balance of EUR 92 million has been added,” the Socialists recalled, and Councilman João Paulo Correia added to Lusa that for 2027 a management balance of EUR 100 million is expected, so, in his opinion, “there is no excuse for not returning income to families.”.

The PS/Gaia sees that “these proposals do not depend on Lisbon, do not depend on the Government and do not depend on any other entity”, but “only on a decision of the Vila Nova de Gaia City Council and on the willingness to support the Gaiense families”.