The lawmaker asserts that, despite the local public administration reform’s provisions for strengthening financial autonomy and increasing municipalities’ own-source revenues, the tax policy for 2027 does not provide for sufficient measures in this regard.
Cutasevici proposes the following solutions:
– allocate a larger share of personal income tax to local budgets;
– distribute a portion of corporate income tax among local public administration bodies;
– allocate a share of VAT to local budgets—a mechanism considered in the reform documents;
– retain the majority of revenue from natural resources at the local level;
– introduce more effective tools for collecting local taxes and enforcing tax arrears;
– provide adequate financial resources to support the powers exercised by local public administration bodies.
According to the deputy, these mechanisms would allow more revenue to remain at the local level and reduce dependence on the central budget.
“The tax policy for 2027 falls significantly short of the government’s stated goals for ensuring the financial autonomy of local public authorities. If the reform is aimed at creating truly strong city administrations, administrative power must be backed by real financial strength: sufficient, stable, and predictable local revenue,” Cutasevici stated.
