PM residence costs for 2015 were NIS 1.8 million

The Prime Minister’s residence expenses for 2015 were an estimated NIS 1.8 million ($463,000), the Prime Minister’s Office said on Sunday, in what it touted as the lowest annual costs in seven years.

“Expenses for the Prime Minister’s Residence in the year 2015 are the lowest in the past seven years,” a statement by the PMO said, in response to a request by The Movement for Freedom of Information.

All expenses were approved by the relevant professionals, based on decisions by the Knesset and the government attorney, it said.

However, the Prime Minister’s Office declined to release detailed receipts for the expenses, saying that it would be too time-consuming, and citing that as a legal exemption from the requirement to disclose these documents.

The Movement for Freedom of Information, in response, rejected the PMO’s explanation.

“They use public funds yet have no systematic documentation? Do they really expect us to believe that expenditure and receipts are not organized on a computer and at least most of the information could be extracted at the click of a button?” the organization said in a statement.

The government spent a total of NIS 1,844,000 ($474,000) for the official Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem and Netanyahu’s private residence in Caesarea. That compared to almost NIS 2 million ($514,000) in 2014, and over NIS 2 million in earlier years (and over NIS 3 million — $771,000 — in 2012).

However, close analysis of the numbers indicated that the expenses actually increased in 2015 over previous years.

Maintenance costs rose by over NIS 50,000 ($12,000) in the past year. Operational expenses remained the same. Food and catering increased by NIS 50,000 ($12,000) gardening expenses climbed by almost NIS 50,000 and expenses for the private residence in Caesarea rose by NIS 14,000 ($3,600).

The decrease was seen in expenses for cleaning, maintenance and manpower. According to a footnote on the document, the numbers do not include employees in managerial positions.

According to a Haaretz journalist, the reason for the drop in expenses is that the residence simply transferred some workers from an hourly salary to managerial positions, thereby removing their salaries from the annual expenses.

מדווחים שההוצאות על מעון רוהמ ירדו. הם לא. ב2014 הועברו משרות אחזקה למשרות אמון, כך שהם יוצאים מחישוב עלויות התפעול. חוץ מהסעיף הזה הכל עלה pic.twitter.com/L3rCcJwFhE

— Chaim Levinson (@chaimlevinson) November 20, 2016

There have been several investigations into alleged financial irregularities at the prime minister’s official residence. In May, police released a statement saying that an investigation into the prime minister’s residences had been completed and its conclusions were handed over to the state prosecutor.