Significant news for Beit Shemesh: The city has expanded hugely overnight!

The Minister of the Interior set up a committee to examine the boundaries of the city of Beit Shemesh, and the distribution of revenues from commercial areas that are located in the boundary areas between the city's jurisdiction and that of the Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. Last week the committee completed its work and submitted its conclusions to Interior Minister Moshe Arbel.

Beit Shemesh submitted a request to expand its commercial areas and take over areas currently affiliated to the Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. The basis of the city's argument is three-fold:
~ The city's residents are affected by the noise, environmental pollution, traffic congestion and other issues from the industrial zones that are close to Beit Shemesh.
~ It is mostly Beit Shemesh residents who work in these areas and are the main customers of the businesses in the industrial zones.
~ The geographical proximity of the industrial zones adjacent to the city of Beit Shemesh, rather than Mateh Yehuda, which covers huge areas and has many other sources of income.

A similar claim was made regarding the 'Wing 2' Air Force base, located near Beit Shemesh, which currently pays municipal taxes to the Mateh Yehuda Regional Council. This base covers an area of about 24km squared, so this is a considerable income of taxes to the regional authority's coffers. The location of the base severely limits Beit Shemesh and prevents it from expanding westward, limiting the potential to build additional neighborhoods. Proximity to a military base has different consequences, so the claim is that it would be just and fair for the tax revenues to go to the city located nearby.

The Border Investigation Committee partially accepted Beit Shemesh's position, and decided to transfer the Wing 2 base to the jurisdiction of Beit Shemesh. However, Beit Shemesh will hand over part of the revenues from the base to Mateh Yehuda.

However, on the issue of Beit Shemesh's main lawsuit, regarding the Western industrial zone (where the Police Academy is), the reverse decision was made. The industrial zone will continue to be under the jurisdiction of the Mateh Yehuda Regional Council, which will transfer part of the tax revenue to the Beit Shemesh municipality.

In addition, a little more than 20 dunams of land near to Beit Shemesh, beside Moshav Zanoach, was also transferred to the authority of the Mateh Yehuda Regional Council.

Mayor Shmuel Greenberg said following the publication of the committee's decision: "I thank the committee for its professional work, and look forward to the speedy approval by Interior Minister Rabbi Moshe Arbel. The decision will enable the Beit Shemesh Municipality to significantly increase infrastructure development, and promote projects for the benefit of the city's residents. The committee's recommendations are very important and bring good news to the city. Beit Shemesh's claims, as we see them, are just and based on reasonable logic. We launched this initiative in order to strengthen Beit Shemesh and give it its proper share so that we can give more to the residents across the city."

Deputy and Acting Mayor Rabbi Shimon Goldberg added "The committee did a professional job and we thank it for that. But as far as we are concerned, the result is unsatisfactory. We are eagerly awaiting the final approval of these decisions, and at the same time are working with the Ministry of Housing to set up an additional border investigation committee, in order to enable the development of more land and more industrial zones for Beit Shemesh. Together with the mayor, I am trying to use all the tools at our disposal to bring more and more areas business and commerce and, of course, additional residential areas to Beit Shemesh."

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