The pardoning of property taxes, Ibrahim warns serious financial consequences for municipalities

The constitutional decision in favour of the 100 euro property tax forgiveness will have financial impacts on each municipality.

Saban Ibrahimi, executive director of the Kosovo Commission Association, has told Indexline that municipalities will suffer.

The Constitutional Court, with its final decision, has granted the right to municipalities in terms of forgiveness.

If the municipalities based on the notes we have, if they forgive these tools, they will have a lack of budget around 27 million and 863 thousand euros. We have municipalities that will be short of 6 million 814, 3 million more.

Of these tools which are planned, municipal budgets are drafted and approved in the municipal municipalities in September for next year's municipal assemblies, have been decided on their budgets in September this year, and now these vehicles are scheduled for next year.

Perhaps in some cases capital investments that are huge are going to be lacking, but it is possible to reduce subsidies to students, farmers etc.”, Ibrahim said.

Otherwise, in August of this year, Prizren's municipality submitted its constitutional requirement to contest Article 5 of the amended law, which envisions forgiveness worth 100 euros in property taxes for every tax payment in 2023.

He has also expressed concern over another legal opinion from which the municipalities will have consequences.

“Communa will generally suffer about 28m euros, add this judicial opinion that has come from the Supreme Court, where municipalities, even though they are not signatories of collective contracts, are unjustly being taken from their budgets for the implementation of collective contract.

Now even the Supreme Court has come with a legal opinion, where teachers should be compensated, the issue of licensing and inflation.

Based on the notes we have if this action is taken if more than 20m euros are taken to implement judicial opinion then sincerely the municipality will have no financial means for capital investments.

Add that to the government for next year's budget, 22 municipalities will have budgetary cuts in capital investments for new projects.

The municipalities will be in a more uncomfortable situation in terms of capital investments.

There are three elements, pardoning the legal decision to implement collective contracts and cuts from the central level for capital investments for new projects from 22 municipalities, municipalities will be in a position of”, Ibrahim said.

According to him, these decisions will have consequences, especially small and medium-sized municipalities.