The House of Representatives on Tuesday approved several articles of the draft Local Administration Law, including provisions governing municipal revenues, road paving fees, objections to assessments, municipal employee expenditures and the establishment of municipal companies.

Under Article 18, approved by the House, a municipality's financial resources shall include taxes, fees, charges and other funds imposed under the law and regulations issued pursuant to it or under any other legislation; revenues from investment projects; self-generated revenues; and aid, grants and donations, provided that Cabinet approval is obtained when they originate from a non-Jordanian source.

The article stipulates that taxes, fees, charges, revenues and other sums owed to municipalities under legislation in force before the new law takes effect shall continue to be collected in accordance with its provisions.

Municipal taxes, fees and other dues shall be collected either directly by municipalities or by the government, contractors or entities contracted for that purpose as per the law.

Minister of Local Administration Walid Masri said the provisions would regulate the collection of municipal funds and fees while expanding opportunities for partnerships with the private sector.

He added that municipalities currently do not directly collect many of the fees owed to them.

Masri explained that traffic violations are processed electronically by the Greater Amman Municipality, noting that there is no need for 104 separate electronic systems.

He said that waste collection fees are collected through electricity companies. Fees at central markets and cemeteries are collected by contractors on behalf of municipalities, as is currently the case in Sahab, Greater Irbid and Ramtha.

He said the proposed legislation and regulations would broaden the scope for private-sector partnerships in the management and construction of service projects, including slaughterhouses and abattoirs.

Under such arrangements, contractors or subcontractors would handle collection in accordance with their agreements and transfer the municipality's financial dues to it.

Masri said that the provision does not entail assigning municipal fee collection wholesale to specialised collection companies. It applies to development and service projects that municipalities choose to entrust to the private sector for management and operation.

Head of the Parliamentary Administrative Committee Khalifa Diyat said the proposed amendments and provisions primarily seek to empower municipalities to stimulate investment and promote local development, stressing that there is no intention to restrict Jordanians or infringe upon their rights.

He said the involvement of contractors or subcontractors relates to the management of major investment and service projects, such as waste disposal and investment projects and does not concern the collection of regular fees from Jordanians.

Diyat added that regular fees would continue to be collected by municipal employees and directors, who would be granted the necessary powers under the approved provisions.

Regarding Article 21, the House approved a proposal to reduce the share of road paving, asphalting and retaining-wall construction costs payable by property owners whose properties border both sides of a road.

Under paragraph B/1, owners of properties adjacent to both sides of a road would be required to pay no more than 50 percent of the costs of paving, asphalting and constructing retaining walls, regardless of the source of funding.

The collection mechanism and related procedures would be determined by regulations issued for this purpose.

Masri said zoning fees and retaining-wall construction costs are governed by the Constitution and the law and are not intended to impose an undue burden on people.

He described the payments as service fees rather than taxes, saying they are distributed among beneficiaries and property owners adjacent to the road being paved or where retaining walls are being constructed.

He said that Article 6 of the Constitution establishes equality among Jordanians in rights and duties, ruling out discrimination in the imposition of fees between different areas.

Masri explained that paving fees are calculated based on the actual tender costs of projects.

Under the current law, as well as previous legislation dating back to 1955, municipalities cover 50 percent of the total cost, while the remaining 50 percent is distributed among properties on both sides of the road, with each side bearing 25 percent.

He said the legislation authorizes the Cabinet and municipal councils to reduce these percentages below the 50 percent ceiling in special cases, including roads serving development zones or factories or connecting several villages.

He noted that this authority is already exercised through reductions of between 30 and 40 percent, while rural roads are exempt from such fees.

He said strengthening the relevant legislative provisions would empower municipalities to provide services and facilitate the implementation of development roads.

Masri called for encouraging Jordanians to remain in their local communities and strengthening remote, peripheral and less-developed areas to promote stability and social security.

He said the criteria for distributing fuel and investment revenues prioritise remote and border areas with limited sources of income to ensure their access to basic services.

The House endorsed the recommendation of the Parliamentary Administrative Committee to add a new paragraph, numbered 2, stipulating that work carried out after a road is constructed or to repair damage caused by rain, shall be exempt from the provisions of paragraph 1.

Regarding paragraph C of Article 25, the House approved a proposal to reduce from 20 percent to 10 percent the amount that taxpayers must pay or guarantee through a bank guarantee, when objecting to the validity or value of an assessment and filing a lawsuit before the competent court.

The paragraph, as set out in the draft law, grants taxpayers the right to challenge the validity or value of an assessment before the municipality and to file a lawsuit with the competent court within the period specified in paragraph A, provided they pay 20 percent of the amount due or provide a bank guarantee for the same amount.

The Parliamentary Administrative Committee had proposed reducing the percentage to 15 percent.

The House approved the committee's recommendation concerning Article 26, which stipulates that salaries and allowances for municipal employees may not exceed 50 percent of the municipal budget when it is approved and 40 percent in the following year.

Under Article 29, approved by the House, municipalities may individually or jointly establish one or more companies to provide municipal services or for investment purposes, in accordance with regulations issued for this purpose.

On the dissolution of municipal councils, Masri said councils may only be dissolved for reasons and justifications warranting such a decision.

He described as a "positive development" the committee's proposal to require elections to be held within a maximum of one year following dissolution, saying it places a constraint on executive authority.

Masri reaffirmed his support for the election of municipal councils and their heads and said he had advocated the direct election of mayors by Jordanians as a means of strengthening democratic participation.

Regarding the timeframe for holding elections following the dissolution of a municipal council, he said the government had initially proposed six months, extendable by an additional six months, while the Parliamentary Administrative Committee proposed setting the maximum period at one year.

For his part, Parliamentary Administrative Committee Chair Mahmoud Diyat said the committee had removed the dissolution of municipal councils from the category of an "absolute power," describing the move as a positive step toward strengthening municipal work.

He said the committee's amendments represented a qualitative change aimed at striking a balance between respecting people's right to elect their councils and establishing oversight mechanisms to address shortcomings or violations.

The House approved Articles 18, 25, 26, 28, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34 and 35 as included in the draft law, with minor amendments.

On July 12, the House referred the draft law to the Parliamentary Administrative Committee, which approved it the following day.

The Cabinet approved the draft Local Administration Law on May 24 and referred it to the House of Representatives for consideration and approval in accordance with constitutional procedures.

//Petra// AK

18/08/2026 20:11:53