The KLGI Institute welcomes the budget process and expects the Municipality of Malisheva to approve its budget as soon as possible!

37 out of 38 municipalities approve their budget on time, and the northern municipalities also submit their approved budget on time!

Based on the phases of the budget process for 2019, according to the calendar for the local level, municipalities were required to complete the approval process in the Municipal Assemblies by 30 September. By this deadline, 37 out of 38 municipalities had adopted their budget.

This includes the northern municipalities, which have adopted and submitted their budgets and medium-term budget frameworks to the Ministry of Finance on time. The joint efforts of the Ministry of Finance and the Budget Organisations at the local level, in particular the municipalities, in this process deserve recognition.

Although budget hearings still have marked shortcomings, with a focus on the format in which the hearings are organised, there are initiatives for this process to move from generalised discussions to debates with focus groups. Based on the second budget circular for the 2019 municipal budget, the total amount reaches €530,990,252, compared with €482,012,850 in 2018, which means there will be nearly €49 million more.

In this process, the Municipality of Malisheva has not yet adopted its budget due to a lack of political consensus in the Municipal Assembly. Based on the expenditure structure for 2019, the Municipality of Malisheva risks being left with the structure of the previous budget, which amounts to over half a million EUR less. In the phases of the budget process for 2019, it is extremely important that consensus is reached in this municipality before 26 October, so that the budget is sent to the government before the final approval of the draft budget. Otherwise, after the budget is approved in the Assembly of Kosovo, this issue may become problematic, leaving the Municipality of Malisheva to operate within the framework of the previous budget.

The municipal budget is the main annual document for the functioning of municipalities, and therefore professional and substantive discussions in the Municipal Assemblies serve the strategic and development goals of the respective municipalities. We therefore call on the political representatives in the Municipal Assembly and the executive to exhaust the debate and find a solution for the approval of the budget.

On the other hand, improving this process, together with the reform expected to take place in the field of local government finances, will be a good opportunity to strengthen autonomy and at the same time fiscal discipline. Moreover, ten (10) years after the adoption of the Law on Local Government Finances (LLGF) and the decentralisation process itself, the experience of this period has shown the need for change that opens up new development prospects for municipalities, balances investments from the central level and advances the financing formulas. This, together with strengthening structured communication between the local and central levels, is proving and must continue to produce results for the development and well-being of citizens.

After this process is completed, the KLGI Institute, together with its institutional partners, will begin a new phase of specific training related to the budgeting process, from public consultation to reporting. This will also be a new opportunity to address the challenges arising from this process and to continuously improve it.