Budget transparency in Croatian counties, cities and municipalities: 2019 – April 2020

Abstract

The overall average level of budget transparency in Croatian local government units2 , expressed as the number of budget documents published on their respective official websites, stands at 4.1 (out of a maximum 5). The average value for counties stands at 4.9, for cities 4.5 and 4 for municipalities. Even though the average results keep improving year after year, around 20% of the local government units still fail to publish all three legally required documents, while 41% do not follow the recommendation of the Ministry of Finance for publishing two additional documents. Although the publishing of documents does not, in itself, guarantee absolute transparency, it is considered the initial step toward higher transparency levels necessary for citizens’ participation in the budgetary process and control over the collection and spending of public funds. In these exceptional times of crisis brought about by the coronavirus (plus the earthquake in the case of Zagreb and its surroundings), when revenues are lower and expenditures higher, such control is necessary even more. Exceptional circumstances should not act as an excuse for non-transparent activities that could affect, in both the short and the long term, efficiency and justness, the economic, social and political circumstances as well as the well-being of citizens. More detailed results for all counties, cities and municipalities are provided in the text below and are also available in the form of an interactive map and an Excel table.