The City of Naples is evaluating an early exit from its long-term financial recovery procedure, known as predissesto, with the ordinary end of the plan currently set for 2032.
The administration has discussed bringing that date forward, with internal working hypotheses between 2029 and 2030. Mayor Gaetano Manfredi has publicly indicated 2029 as the target for an early exit.
The aim is straightforward: leaving the procedure early would give the city more room for discretionary spending and investment. Under the current constraints, a large part of the revenue recovered through improved tax collection cannot automatically be used for free spending.
Why collection revenue remains locked
A central part of the city's strategy is Napoli Obiettivo Valore, the company handling tax and non-tax collection.
According to reporting by Il Mattino, the company processed more than 1.96 million tax and non-tax files, with a total value of more than 1.74 billion euros, and collections of more than 350 million euros in its first three years of activity.
That revenue does not directly translate into money available for new spending. The annual installment earmarked for covering debt and deficit is reported at 170 million euros. Collections above that annual amount remain tied to the Fondo crediti di dubbia esigibilità, the fund for doubtful receivables, and are not automatically available for discretionary spending.
This is the mechanism the administration wants to change. An early end to the predissesto would, in the city's view, widen the scope for using recovered resources for investment.
The Patto per Napoli framework
The recovery path is linked to the Patto per Napoli, signed on 29 March 2022. The agreement provides for about 1.23 billion euros in non-repayable state contributions, paid in annual tranches through 2042.
A municipal study of the Patto, presented by the City of Naples, also points to about 35 million euros per year in additional revenue expected from improved collection, the IRPEF surcharge and the airport surcharge.
Collection figures reported in different documents cover different periods. The municipal study cited 166 million euros connected to Napoli Obiettivo Valore, with 90 million euros already collected and 76 million euros under installment plans. Fanpage reported 275 million euros after about two and a half years. Il Mattino later reported more than 350 million euros over three years.
The differences reflect the reporting periods, not necessarily conflicting totals.
What the administration says would change
Manfredi has linked an early exit to financing more investment, hiring and a gradual reduction of the municipal IRPEF surcharge.
Fanpage reported a reduction of the deficit of about 800 million euros and a fall in debt from more than 2.2 billion euros in 2021 to about 1.58 billion euros in 2024.
The 2029 or 2030 date remains a political and administrative objective, not a finalized decision in the documentation reviewed. The sources do not specify which act by the Corte dei Conti or the Government would be required to shorten the recovery period.
It is also not established that the full amount of more than 350 million euros would become immediately spendable if the city leaves the procedure early. The constraints on surplus collections and the long schedule of state transfers through 2042 would continue to shape what can actually be spent, and when.
