The Supreme Court has accepted for processing the appeals filed by the City Council of Madrid against several resolutions of the High Court of Justice of Madrid (TSJM) that had declared the full nullity of the ordinance regulating the Fee for the provision of the municipal waste management service, approved by the municipal Plenary on December 23, 2024.
According to various orders accessed by Europa Press, the Administrative Litigation Chamber of the high court appreciates objective cassational interest for the formation of jurisprudence and orders that the appeal be processed preferentially.
The resolutions that annulled the ordinance in full were in response to appeals promoted by different organizations, foundations, and entities, among which is the Municipal Group of Más Madrid.
The core of the conflict lies in that, during the public information period, the Technical-Economic Report that served as the basis for justifying the fee was disseminated, but the annexes 6.1, 6.2, 6.3, and 6.4, which contained an external study on the generation of waste from economic activities in the capital, were not made public. These annexes included, among other elements, the technical report, the sampling design, the methodology applied, and the final report.
The TSJM understood that the lack of those documents constituted a relevant omission, given that they detailed the methodology used to assign waste generation to the different uses and to set the fee based on generation.
The court emphasized that this external documentation was key for the allocation of waste to residential and non-residential properties, the configuration of districts in homogeneous areas, and, ultimately, the setting of fees.
Objective cassational interest and doctrine establishment
In the orders, the Supreme concludes that the appeal has objective cassational interest for the formation of jurisprudence concerning three issues linked to the public information process of the tax ordinances regulating the fees provided for in Law 7/2022, of April 8, on waste and contaminated soils for a circular economy, when they incorporate pay-as-you-generate systems.
In the admission resolutions, the court points out that the issue raised in these appeals has an evident significance that justifies its priority processing and its inclusion in the calendar for deliberation, voting, and ruling with preference over other matters.
It will now correspond to the Supreme Court to establish doctrine on these matters and to rule on the appeal of the City Council against the ruling of the TSJM. The order also provides that the proceedings be sent to the Second Section of the Administrative Litigation Chamber for its preferential processing and resolution.
Appeals of the City Council and refund of the fee
The legal services of the City Council of Madrid filed a cassation appeal against the ruling that declared the waste collection fee of the City Council illegal. This resolution, according to municipal sources indicated to Europa Press, "questioned the absence of an annex in the process but did not address the substance".
The decision to appeal was made with the aim of "defending the work of the officials of the City Council of Madrid," who, in the opinion of the City Council, "carried out a correct processing of the file".
Regarding the refund of the amounts paid, the City Council has already advanced that it will act in accordance with what is established in the law and in the ruling, since Jurisprudence sets limits on the refund of amounts when general provisions are annulled. The regulations indicate in the same line that, when administrative acts are final, a refund is not appropriate.
Furthermore, the ruling, the same sources have recalled, expressly states that there can be no refund for all those situations that are already final in the administrative route and that have not been subject or are not subject to appeal.
From the team of José Luis Martínez-Almeida, they insist that this situation will be considered concluded when "all the groups of the City Council jointly request the withdrawal of this fee, an issue that the left-wing parties refuse to do".