Lisbon Lays Out an 8.8 Percent Bigger Budget for 2027, With IMI at the Legal Minimum and Residents' Full IRS Share Handed Back

Lisbon City Council (Câmara Municipal de Lisboa) presents its draft budget for 2027 this morning, and the headline figure is already out: total spending is set to rise by 8.8 percent on the 1.345 billion euros budgeted for 2026, Lusa reported via Notícias ao Minuto. On those figures the 2027 budget would come to roughly 1.46 billion euros.

The council's own agenda notice says the presentation takes place at 11:00 at the Paços do Concelho (city hall) and will be streamed live on lisboa.pt, covering housing, mobility, the environment, public space, culture and social support.

No tax rises, according to the council

Deputy mayor Gonçalo Reis (PSD) described it as "a balanced budget, which strengthens the city's capacity to act without raising taxes", according to Lusa. He highlighted three tax points that matter to residents and local firms:

• Income tax: the council will again hand back to Lisbon taxpayers the whole of the variable share of personal income tax (IRS) that councils are allowed to keep.
• Property tax: IMI (Imposto Municipal sobre Imóveis, the annual municipal property tax) stays at the minimum rate. For urban property the law sets a range of 0.3 to 0.45 percent of a property's taxable value, so Lisbon owners stay at the bottom of it.
• Business surcharge: more than 20,000 companies will be exempt from the derrama, the municipal surcharge on company profits.

Housing first, then cleaning and transport

Reis said the extra money is meant to speed up priority investment in housing, urban cleaning (higiene urbana), security, mobility, public space and social cohesion. Housing "remains the main purpose", he said: the council plans more construction and refurbishment of affordable homes, help for those in greatest need and for the middle class, and support for families struggling with rent. The amounts for each area, including for the bus company Carris, had not been published at the time of writing and are expected at the presentation.

The budget rests on the council's own revenue and equity, with EU funds as a complement and multi-year bank loans to "accelerate high-impact projects", Reis said.

The votes ahead

This is the second budget of the 2025 to 2029 term under mayor Carlos Moedas (PSD), who governs with the CDS-PP and IL. Lusa notes that the 2026 budget passed with the support of Chega's councillors, as Moedas then held eight of the 17 seats on the council. Since February he has had a majority, after delegating powers to independent councillor Ana Simões Silva, who was elected for Chega and later left the party.

Approval by the council executive therefore looks assured. The final word lies with the Municipal Assembly (Assembleia Municipal), where the governing coalition has no absolute majority. No date for that vote had been announced.

What it means for you

If the plan survives the assembly, Lisbon residents should see no rise in their IMI rate for 2027 and continue to get back the full municipal share of their IRS. For the housing programmes that matter to renters, such as the affordable rent draws the council is building land for, watch for the figures released today. Owners renovating older buildings may also benefit from the council's redrawn urban rehabilitation area, which carries its own IMI breaks.