Our public policy researcher Marko Sošić, was a guest in a TV show “Club A” on Atlas television, in order to present a new version of the portal on local finances, www.MojGrad.me, prepared in cooperation with the United Nations Development Programme, with the support of the Ministry of Finance.
Besides the new data, he has also presented some innovations of the portal. One of them refers to a component of the Strategic Development Plan of the Capital City of Podgorica 2012-2017, with the online platform with available information on 174 capital projects in the Capital City, referring projects that are planned, implemented or under implementation, and their purpose, location and budgetary provisions.
Additionally, in order to illustrate the complex budget figures and concepts in a citizens-appealing way, “the most palpable” problems in local budgets are presented through interesting infographics. Such issues concern municipal costs, municipal debt, number of employees in local governments and their incomes.
One of the most interesting topics concerned the civil interests in local government budgets, in the context of public participation in the debates on the Draft of the decision on municipality budget, as well as citizens’ participation in drafting strategic documents and decision-making, important for the a certain municipality.
Irrational use of budget funds is a main cause of the financial problems at the local level. Better quality control of the final accounts of the municipality’s budget, and better quality commercial audit is essential to more transparent and accountable management of local governments. However, this responsibility rests not only on local governments but also on greater citizen participation in the budget process, said Sošić.
The TV Show “How do the municipalities spend their budget?” is available on the following link:
