Third press conference: Leaders of the Municipality of Tivat emphasized the inappropriate spending of money and presented the dynamics of optimizing the number of employees in the Municipality

The topics of the third press conference were: Improper spending of budget funds in the previous period and the consequences of the adoption of the new Decision on the organization and manner of work of local government, and individual acts on internal organization and systematization of bodies and services in the Municipality of Tivat. On this occasion, presenting all the details, Mayor of the municipality of Tivat, Zeljko Komnenovic, and the deputy mayors of the municipality, Vladimir Arsic and Goran Bozovic, addressed the public.

Upon receiving the position of the Mayor of the municipality Tivat Mr. Komnenovic informed the public about the multi-million debt of the Municipality of Tivat. He announced that from now on, he will inform the public about individual disputable cases of unintended budget spending. When it comes to a case of capital donation by Lustica Development ad: “This is a capital donation in the amount of € 902,217.00. These funds were paid by Luštica Development ad to the account of the State Treasury, and in the name of payment of obligations for the Luštica Bay project. These funds are by the Conclusion of the Government on 31.12.2019. redirected to the Municipality of Tivat in order to complete the construction of the MR2 road ", said the President and emphasized that these funds were not found in the vault and were not spent for the intended purpose. The President was informed by the Secretariat for Finance that "the funds were misused for the regular operation of the Municipality of Tivat for current and capital obligations that were due to be paid". The information states that the Municipality of Tivat borrowed 2 million euros at the beginning of the year in order to service the same obligations. These funds are presented in the budget for 2019 as a capital donation, while in 2020 they are presented on the expenditure side as "other capital expenditures for local infrastructure."

The Law on Financing of Local Self-Government, Article 32, stipulates that a municipality to which earmarked funds are provided from the state budget is obliged to keep those funds separate from its own and use them only and exclusively for the approved purpose. Article 63 of the same law also prescribes a fine for those who do not act in accordance with the provisions of this law, and the president announced the determination of responsibility and sanctioning of persons who approved this type of transaction.

“We found € 600,000 in debt for current expenses. The issues are electricity bills, fees for the work of commissions, fees for newborns… The municipality has paid the debt to citizens based on damage from natural disasters… The previous government also left a debt for roundabouts in Gradiošnica and in the city center ", says the president and notes that it is € 48,000.00, or about € 70,000.00 for works on these roundabouts, part of which was paid in the previous period.

Detection of disputed transactions

"A systematic and detailed check of all contractual obligations and transactions has been performed," said the deputy mayor Vladimir Arsić, citing as controversial the example of financing the project of the NGO "Mladi Boke Kotorske", which is "Mladi Boke Zajedno", as this NGO is called in the documentation. The total funds of € 5,000.00 were paid to this NGO even before the start of the project, but the project has never been materialized. After expressing the interest of the local government for the project itself, the representative of the NGO informed the Municipality that the project will not be realized due to the illness of the hired associates, and the funds were returned to the municipality on November 2.

The contract with the Ipsos agency worth € 15,014.85 was also pointed out as disputable. The subject of this contract is a public opinion poll on the satisfaction of citizens with the work of local government. According to Vice President Arsić, the payment was made on the basis of an unsigned invoice, without conducting a public procurement procedure, while the Municipality is not in possession of the report as the final product of this contractual obligation. "The only thing we came up with is the type of sample on which the survey is conducted, and it is clear that this is not a public opinion poll on the work of local government, but a survey related to voters and the mood of citizens before the local elections in Tivat.", stated Arsić.

The new acts on systematization in the Municipality of Tivat envisage 40% fewer employees

The vice president of the municipality, Goran Božović, informed the public about the fact that the acting heads of bodies and services were appointed, and the rulebook on internal organization and systematization was adopted after the adoption of the new Decision on the organization and manner of work of the local government. Until this moment, all regulations have been adopted, except for the one related to the Protection Service, due to the absence of the acting commander, and due to temporary incapacity for work.

"Deployment of employees will be done in the next 10 days," said Bozovic, noting that those employees who remain unassigned are made available to the Secretariat for Local Government, which deals with personnel management in the Municipality of Tivat, for the needs of the internal labor market and identifying opportunities. their proper deployment.

"For the sake of the public, it is important to clarify that employees are still available for employment, for up to six months, ie one year (which applies to employees who enjoy special protection in accordance with the law). If the employees are not assigned to the appropriate position within the specified period, their employment shall be terminated and they shall be entitled to severance pay in accordance with the Law governing the salaries of employees in the public sector. This means that unassigned employees are financially secured for a period of one year, "Bozovic emphasized.

The acts on systematization passed by the previous government provided for 216 employees, while the new acts on systematization provided for 96 employees. "It is necessary to add to this number no more than 30 employees who will be systematized in the Protection Service," said Bozovic, adding that in accordance with the valid acts on systematization, a total of 125 employees is envisaged, which is a reduction of 40%.

At this moment, 176 people are employed in the Municipality, and the decision on deployment will be given to 121 of them. "Based on all that has been said, we come to the fact that the announced reduction in the number of emplyees will save about 1 million euros annually," Bozovic concluded.