A petition was filed last week with the Supreme Court by
Arnon Yekutieli, member of Jerusalem's City Council and of Am
Chofshi. He demanded the cancellation of current criteria for
reductions in the annual municipal property tax
("arnona") given to large families. The suit was filed
against the Interior Minister, Natan Sharansky.
The petitioner claims that current guidelines discriminate
against small and medium-sized families, as opposed to large
ones. Yekutieli claims that the situation is especially
serious in Jerusalem, where part of the city's population
pays a heavier share of thearnona while another group
is generally exempt from payment.
Yekutieli claims that in order to calculate incomes for the
purpose of reductions in arnona, income from monthly
children supplements, unemployment benefits, scholarships and
other income must be taken into consideration, as well as
salary. In that manner, reductions will be given to those who
truly need them and not to those who do not earn income
through employment but secure their livelihoods from
annuities not included in the arnona calculation.
The petitioners also claim that current procedures are highly
illogical, since they grant automatic reductions of over 70%
to those who receive minimum income payments from the
Religious Affairs Ministry (i.e. yeshiva students).
In response to this provocative petition, deputy Mayor of the
city, Rabbi Uri Maklev said, "The petitioner is behaving like
all so-called gentle souls who use the law as it suits their
needs. The law determines that income increments are allotted
in addition to various annuities of the National Insurance
Institute. That is the law, and what can we do if it doesn't
suit the obsessive envy and ill will of those souls? They say
of us: `Lest they multiply,' and we say, `Let us
multiply.'"
