Municipalities' own revenues were not sufficient to provide quality services to citizens during the coronavirus pandemic, the State Audit Commission (DRI) assessed.
That institution published the report of the Cooperative Audit - Audit of Success "Municipalities' own revenues in order to provide quality services to citizens during the pandemic".
The Board of the SAI composed of: Zoran Jelić (head of the Board) and Dr. Branislav Radulović (member of the Board) adopted the final report at the session on April 26, and the audit was done in cooperation with the Supreme Audit Institutions of: North Macedonia, Albania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Turkey
The audit concluded that Montenegro still has not passed the Law on Crisis Management, which would provide a comprehensive and unified normative regulation of that area.
"In accordance with the Law on the Protection of the Population from Infectious Diseases, it is foreseen that in providing and implementing the protection of the population from infectious diseases, in addition to other state bodies, local government bodies also participate. However, given that in Montenegro, health care is centralized at the state level, the role of municipalities in the field of crisis management in the framework of emergency situations in the field of public health is not primary and is largely dependent on the hierarchy/orders that come from the central level. Insufficient resources at the local level, for the complex challenges caused by the covid-19 pandemic, have limited their ability existing control mechanisms to achieve their full function," the SAI announced.
Despite the undertaken activities of the municipal teams for protection and rescue, the audit determined that the amount of own revenues of local self-governments in 2020 was lower by 37.462.896,22 euros compared to 2019 and lower by 39.295.263,65 euros compared to 2021, while 19 out of 24 municipalities in Montenegro are below the national development average (Cetinje, Bar, Danilov city, Nikšić, Žabljak, Plužine, Pljevlja, Kolašin, Ulcinj, Mojkovac, Bijelo Polje, Šavnik, Tuzi, Berane, Andrijevica, Rožaje, Gusinje, Plav, and Petnjica).
Also, shortcomings were identified in the organization of the response system to the coronavirus pandemic, the financing system of local self-governments, as well as the need to improve the digitalization of municipal services and the use of acquired experience in future crises.
The findings of the audit indicate, the SAI added, that based on the experiences gained, municipalities should design and implement recovery plans after the crisis, which would serve as a valid basis for responding to the crisis and provide stability and business continuity in future crisis situations.
The final report on the audit of the success of "Own revenues of municipalities in order to provide quality services to citizens during the pandemic" was submitted to the Government, the Parliamentary Committee for Health, Labor and Social Welfare, as well as the Union of Municipalities of Montenegro.
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