Local Authorities (Fund for the Expansion of Investment in the Resident and for the Increase of Housing Supply) Law, 5783-2023

In this Law –

"Fund expenditure" – the total of all grants that local authorities are entitled to receive in that year under section 4 and the operating expenses of the Fund;

"operating expenses of the Fund" – remuneration payments and reimbursement of expenses to members of the Fund Council, salary payments to office holders of the Fund, and any operating expense of the Fund required under this Law;

"added housing unit" – a housing unit for the construction of which a permit was granted in a particular year, which increases the stock of housing units of the local authority relative to the preceding year, according to data of the Central Bureau of Statistics;

"Fund Council" – as its meaning in section 6;

"new grants" – grants in respect of added housing units for which the local authority was not entitled to a grant in the preceding year;

"recurring grants" – grants in respect of added housing units for which the local authority was entitled to a grant in the preceding year;

"the Fund" – the Fund for the Expansion of Investment in the Resident and for the Increase of Housing Supply, established under section 2;

"local authority" – a municipality, a regional council and a local council;

"the update rate" – as defined in section 7 of the Economic Arrangements Law (Legislative Amendments for Achieving Budget Targets), 5753-1992;

"the Ministers" – the Minister of the Interior and the Minister of Finance.

There is hereby established the Fund for the Expansion of Investment in the Resident and for the Increase of Housing Supply.

"non-residential property tax" – the total income from property tax actually received by a local authority in a particular year in respect of properties that are not residential buildings, in accordance with the audited report; for this purpose, "residential building" – as defined in the provisions made under sections 8 and 9 of the Economic Arrangements Law (Legislative Amendments for Achieving Budget Targets), 5753-1992;

"non-residential property tax per capita" – the quotient obtained by dividing the non-residential property tax in a particular year by the number of residents of the local authority in that year according to the registration in the Population Registry as its meaning in the Population Registry Law, 5725-1965;

"growth in non-residential property tax" – the amount of growth in non-residential property tax in a particular year, relative to the non-residential property tax in the preceding year;

"the audited report" – as defined in section 140c of the Municipalities Ordinance;

"the socio-economic index" – the characterisation and ranking of local authorities according to the socio-economic level of their population, as published by the Central Bureau of Statistics;

"the peripherality index" – the characterisation and ranking of local authorities according to their geographical location relative to population concentrations in Israel, as published by the Central Bureau of Statistics.

The Fund Council shall be responsible for the management of the Fund, including the discharge of the following functions:

In the discharge of its functions, the Fund Council shall act independently and without dependence.

The Fund Council may require from a local authority information necessary for the purpose of implementing the provisions under this Law, in the form and manner that it shall direct; in this section, "information" – excluding personal information as defined in the Privacy Protection Law, 5741-1981.

The term of office of a member of the Fund Council who is a public representative or a representative of a local authority under section 6(a)(7) shall be four years, and such person may be re-appointed or re-elected, as the case may be, for additional terms of office, provided that he does not serve for more than two consecutive terms of office.

The existence of the Fund Council, its powers and the validity of its decisions and actions shall not be affected by reason of the cessation of office of a member of the Council or by reason of a defect in the appointment of a member or in the continuation of his service, provided that a majority of its members are serving.

The Council shall prepare annual reports on the activities of the Fund, its receipts and expenditure, including in respect of each local authority, shall submit them to the Finance Committee of the Knesset by 31 March of the following year, and shall publish them on the Fund's website.

A member of the Fund Council who is not a State employee, an employee of a subsidised body or an employee of a supported body, as defined in section 32 of the Budget Foundations Law, 5745-1985, and who does not serve as a member of the council of a local authority and receive a salary for such service, shall be entitled to payment from the Fund for participation in meetings of the Council, in accordance with the directives of the Accountant General in the Ministry of Finance applicable in respect of members of public committees.

"family member" – spouse, parent, grandparent, son or daughter and their spouses, brother or sister and their children, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, uncle or aunt and their children, father-in-law, mother-in-law, father-in-law (husband's father), mother-in-law (husband's mother), grandson or granddaughter, including such a relative who is a step-relative;

"interested party" – as defined in the Securities Law, 5728-1968;

"handling" – including the making of a decision, raising a matter for deliberation, presence at a deliberation, participation in a deliberation or in a vote, or dealing with a matter outside a deliberation;

"conflict of interests", of a member of the Fund Council – a conflict of interests between the discharge of his function on the Council and a personal interest or another function, of his own or of his relative;

"relative", of a member of the Fund Council – any of the following:

Members of the Council who are not State employees shall, in their actions as members of the Council, be treated as State employees, for the purposes of the following enactments: