Billing at historic low: Cranes are Budva's trademark, and money from utilities is dwindling

Although the construction business is in full swing and construction has never been more intensive in all parts of the Budva municipality, this could not be said based on the money the Municipality collected from the collection of fees for the development and construction of construction land, better known as utilities, in the first half of this year.

Judging by the Semi-Annual Report on Total Revenues and Total Expenditures for the period from January 1 to June 30, 2026, which is on the agenda of the local parliament session, which is scheduled to continue next Wednesday, the collection of utility bills is at a historic low. Of the projected 10 million euros, as stated in the Report, five million euros should have been collected from utilities in the first half of the year, but the Service for the Collection of Fees for Development of Construction Land collected only 1,4 million euros.

This, as stated in the Report, is an achievement of only 28 percent.

Of the projected 4,25 million euros that were supposed to be collected by the end of June this year, 1,1 million euros were collected from construction companies. Only 216.345 euros were collected from citizens, which is less than a third of the planned amount, or 750 thousand euros.

In addition to the extremely low collection rate, the Municipality practically hides information about the contracts it has concluded with investors and citizens. A practice introduced by the administration of the former Mayor of the Municipality Dragan Krapović, who upon taking office published all contracts concluded by the Municipality, and after that all concluded contracts were published monthly on the Municipality's website, is now the administration Nikola Jovanović interrupted.

The official website of the Municipality does not publish any contracts concluded by the Municipality in the past year. The last contracts were published for September 2025.

The semi-annual report was on the agenda of the local parliament session on August 24, which was interrupted due to the death of a member of the councilor's family. The municipal assembly does not adopt the semi-annual report, but only discusses it.

Secretary for Budget, Accounting and Economic Development Planning Slavko Đukanović, at the last session, explaining the Semi-Annual Report on Budget Implementation, did not hide his satisfaction with the revenues generated, emphasizing that the fiscal capacity of the Municipality of Budva is extremely stable despite the challenges.

According to him, the revenues generated in the first half of the year exceeded 42 million euros, which is more than 50 percent of the total planned annual budget, which is projected at 79 million euros.

As he emphasized, a surplus of 7,98 million was achieved.

"The largest increase is recorded in real estate tax, which has been collected to date in the amount of around 15,5 million euros. That is as much as 2,5 million euros more than in the same period last year. We are also recording an increase in revenue from surtax," Đukanović boasted.

There was no discussion of utilities at the session, and the problem of poor collection was highlighted by the opposition.

Utilities, in addition to taxes, are one of the key sources of revenue for municipal coffers. Almost every administration in previous terms boasted of collecting utilities, both from current projects and from debt collection from investors.

The Municipality of Budva applies a price list for utility bills that has been in effect since 2014, which is another advantage for the construction lobby, considering that the prices of residential and apartment space have reached dizzying amounts.

Concession to the construction lobby, 12-year-old utility prices

Leader of the "Movement for the City" and councilor of that group of voters in the Budva parliament Đorđe Zenović He pointed out to "Vijesti" that the Municipality of Budva calculates a fee for the communal equipment of construction land according to a 12-year-old decision, even though the cost of living has increased more than three times in the meantime.

"According to both the Law on Spatial Planning and Construction of Facilities, and the new Law on Spatial Planning, the Municipality was obliged to adopt a new decision, otherwise, the Government of Montenegro can do it instead. We see that today the collection of fees is at a historic minimum and with those old, very favorable prices for construction companies for communal equipment. All this additionally indicates that every government works in favor of construction lobbies, and this is indicated by the failure to adopt rehabilitation urban plans in Budva, while at the same time the burdens and levies, taxes, excise duties, fees are increasing for citizens, and the consumer basket is becoming more expensive. This speaks volumes about how much they all care about the citizens and whom they obviously serve without question," Zenović emphasized.