The budget of the Municipality of Nikšić for the next year, according to the proposal on which the councilors will decide tomorrow, because the session that started will not end today, will be higher by 1,8 million euros compared to the rebalancing of the budget for 2022 and will amount to 26,8 million.
According to Zoran Šoškić, secretary of the Secretariat for Development, Finance and Entrepreneurship, the budget is designed to be financially sustainable, and in accordance with the guidelines of the Ministry of Finance.
As Šoškić said, it is projected that the own funds will be over nine million, of which 5,6 million is related to real estate tax, and over 1,5 million to fees, while revenues assigned by law are projected to be 8,5 million, so those two items amount to over 66 percent of the planned budget.
It is planned to generate over five million euros from income tax, 5,5 million from the Equalization Fund, and more than three million from fees. When it comes to the expenditure side, it is planned that the operating budget will be 21,7 million, and the capital budget will be XNUMX million.
According to Arsenij Lalatović, the vice-president of the Municipal Council, the budget realistically reflects the current situation in the city's coffers, and in these circumstances it is sustainable, achievable and realistic.
He believes that the capital budget could be bigger because there are "a lot of things that need to be done, which were not done in the previous period", but, as he said, he is pleased by the fact that apart from the mentioned five million, they will probably be able to count on an additional eight million which will be submitted by the deputies in the state Parliament through amendment action.
Boris Muratović, councilor of the "European Team for Nikšić" Club of Councilors, said that there is no logic in increasing the operational part of the budget and that for him all that is planned is faking, and it cannot be realized. He also said that it is planned to allocate 1,3 million more for the salaries of employees compared to last year, allegedly due to the increase in salaries in the public sector.
"Of course, you don't intend to employ the party, as you have shown so far. There are more than your famous 3.000 employees, and we do not have a single factory open, as well as 250 labor contracts, which is the practice of the new government. I must also comment led lighting - we have about 10,7 thousand street lights that we pay in installments over 20 years in the amount of 9,5 million euros. Dividing these two figures, we get that one street lamp will cost the citizens something like 882 euros," said Muratović.
He pointed out that for the second year in a row, the same topics from the capital budget are being carried over in the budget - the construction of the same water pipes that are not yet there, the reconstruction of the same streets, the fire station, the Faculty of Philology, the Museum, the west stand of the stadium, and the Home for the elderly is not yet open.
"As far as LED lighting is concerned, it is an investment that is paid for from the realized savings. What we have been paying for electricity so far has been certain savings, and the entire investment is paid from that. No additional costs are foreseen," said the President of the Municipality, Marko. Kovačević.
He said that the installation of LED light bulbs will start on the first working day of next year, that finally some parts of the municipality will get street lighting and that in the end it will be a project that everyone can be proud of.
He called on the councilors to influence their caucuses in the state Parliament to adopt amendments that provide for capital projects in Nikšić, so that the state budget would not be "broken over the backs of the largest municipality" again, since the draft states that much smaller municipalities will receive more from Nikšić.
Slobodanka Roganović, councilor of the Club of Councilors "European Team for Nikšić", said that the spatial planning plan of the municipality of Nikšić for 2023 contains a number of topics carried over from this year, but also that some projects are missing that the government of Nikšić promised to implement.
Some of them are works on the Wall, the reconstruction of Boulevard 13. Juli. balloon hall, tire recycling factory.
The Vice President of the Municipality, Zoran Tomić, said that the tender for the continuation of the reconstruction of the July 13 Boulevard was announced and completed, that the SNP submitted an amendment to the state budget in order to provide sufficient funds for that project, while the secretary of the Secretariat for Spatial Planning and Environmental Protection Đorđija Manojlović said that many projects will be implemented by the end of this year, because the works are in progress.
"For the balloon hall under Trebjes, we submitted a proposal to the competent ministry to make it a temporary facility, but it was rejected because it is not foreseen in the Spatial Plan. This year, through the program of decorating the facades of residential buildings, we completed ten, and eight will be completed in the next year, with the fact that the Municipality continues that program in 2023. The tire recycling factory is not just our promise, that project is very current," said Manojlović.
There are 11 items on the agenda of the 27th session of the Municipal Assembly (SO).
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