Although it has been almost a year since the Government recommended municipalities to harmonize high salary amounts with the calculation valid in state institutions, there is still no official information whether the municipalities have done anything regarding the issue of salary reduction.
The Ministry of Finance was responsible for informing the Government about the implementation of those conclusions. In that department, "Vijesti" was officially told that they do not have information on whether the municipalities have harmonized the salary calculation.
That answer will be known in mid-February, when the municipalities will submit to the Ministry of Finance data on their finances at the end of 2013, which is their obligation under the Law on Local Self-Government Financing.
The latest data from the website of the Commission for the Prevention of Conflicts of Interest show that in 2012, the salaries of the leaders in most municipalities were higher than the salaries of Prime Minister Milo Đukanović and the ministers.
In 2012, the salary of the President of the Municipality of Tivat Miodrag Kankaraš was 1.600 euros, the mayor of Kotor Marija Ćatović was 1.194 euros, Žarko Pavićević from Bar 1.530 euros, Aleksandar Bogdanović from Cetinje 1.210 euros, Mijuško Bajagić from Plužine 1.475 euros... Mayor of Podgorica Miomir Mugoša for last year he reported a salary of 1.485 euros. The reported salary of Prime Minister Đukanović was 940,32 euros, and that of Finance Minister Rado Žugić was 1.065 euros.
In April of last year, the government recommended, among other things, to the municipalities, in special conclusions, that for determining the fiscal part of employees' wages, they should apply the calculated value of the coefficient determined by the executive power for civil servants and state employees.
The Community of Municipalities also has no information on whether the municipalities have fulfilled their obligations because, as explained by the General Secretary of the Community Refik Bojadžić, the municipalities are not obliged to submit data on financial indicators (income, expenses, balance of outstanding obligations, debt) but only to the relevant ministry. However, he said that he knew that some municipalities were working on harmonizing the calculations.
"This particularly applies to those municipalities that have signed contracts with the Ministry of Finance on financial restructuring, because this is their obligation from those contracts," said Bojadžić.
Financial restructuring contracts with the ministry were signed by the municipalities of Berane, Bijelo Polje, Danilovgrad, Žabljak, Kolašin, Nikšić, Plav, Pljevlja, Ulcinj, Cetinje, Budva and Savnik.
The ministry explained that since the provisions of the Constitution and the Law on Local Self-Government provide a significant level of autonomy to municipalities, the Government cannot make decisions that could threaten their autonomy.
"In this sense, the Government's competence is reflected in giving recommendations, while the financial position of municipalities, both those with problems and those that have managed to repair and overcome difficulties, is the sole responsibility of the leadership in those units," the Ministry of Finance announced.
The average net salary in 2012 in municipal bodies was from 393,8 euros in Andrijevica to the highest average of 624,5 euros in Tivat
The recommendations for harmonizing salary calculations followed after the analysis of the ministry for 2012 showed that the most significant participation in the current expenses of the municipalities is the expenses for the gross wages of the employees, which is about 52 percent.
The average net salary in 2012 in municipal bodies was from 393,8 euros in Andrijevica to the highest average of 624,5 euros in Tivat. According to Monstat data, the average salary in the state administration sector in the same year was 484 euros.
"As far as the rationalization of wages is concerned, in order to further strengthen fiscal discipline and create a sustainable wage system, the Cabinet of the Vice-President of the Government for Economic Policy and the Financial System and the Ministry of Finance initiated the amendment of the regulatory framework that defines wages in the public sector, the provisions of which will include municipalities. The provisions of that law will define the method of determining wages for all employees in the public sector, which will be conditioned by the trend of economic and fiscal parameters, while at the same time, unification of the method of calculating wages for performing the same jobs will be ensured," said the Ministry of Finance.
As they added, in this way the budgets of the municipalities will be consolidated, considering the fact that the wage fund has a very significant share in their total budget expenditures.
Adjust high wages to the crisis by law
The President of the Parliamentary Committee for Economy and MP of the SNP, Aleksandar Damjanović, said that the party's position on the problem with salaries in municipalities was clearly highlighted by proposing a bill on salary limitations in the public sector a year ago, which, due to the will of the government and part of the opposition, did not come to the fore. agenda of the Assembly.
"It is the only way to force everyone in the public sector, municipalities, public enterprises and the state administration, to adjust wages to the current economic environment, under the threat of sanctions," said Damjanović. and the municipality with the aim of not changing that situation.
"We call on the government to support our bill or to propose its own, which was promised, and to systematically limit high salaries in the public sector," Damjanović said.
Bojadžić: There is no need for a limit for municipalities that are not in debt
Bojadžić emphasized that, according to the law, one of the basic principles of local self-government is fiscal autonomy, which stipulates that the municipality disposes of money from its budget independently.
"When I say that, I mean those municipalities that do not have outstanding obligations and significant problems in functioning. I believe that the autonomy of those who do not have outstanding debts should not be questioned in the part of regulating the salary of local officials, employees and state employees. This, especially, if these amounts do not call into question the development function of the budget", said Bojadžić.
He recalled that the Government, in its conclusions, tasked the Ministry of Finance with monitoring how the municipalities acted when it comes to harmonizing salaries.
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