Citizens’ transparency appeals Municipal Council of Korça to open discussion on Taxes & Tariffs

The Citizens’ Transparency Office of Korça organized on Wednesday, February 8^th, 2012, a large public meeting for the promotion of the local Citizens’ Transparency Network. That network is made up of representatives from all social categories of Korça. It also includes representatives from the Roma and Egyptian community. Currently, this network comprises of 80-100 citizens. The main objective of the network is the promotion of citizens’ participation in the decision making process and local governance and the enhancement of governing transparency. The organization of this massive network was made possible due to the direct commitment of CPII and of its local branch in Korça, the Citizens’ Transparency Office.
In the framework of this large-scale activity carried out in Grand Hotel premises, the Citizens’ Transparency Office of Korça appealed to the Municipal Council so that, in reviewing the Fiscal Package 2012, it must follow and not disregard the legal requirements for such an important decision making process. The public statement was read by the head of Korça Office, Mr. Ridvan Meçollari, in front of several media representatives who covered the event.
Fiscal package (local Taxes & Tariffs) is the most important normative act the Municipal Council approves within a year along with the budget.  The Package imposes the fiscal burden that every citizen should pay to the municipality in the form of taxes and tariffs, which in other words represent a substantial portion of the Municipal Budget income. As such, the discussion of the budget income with the taxpayers (contributors)  is a process that must be taken very seriously. This process affects everyone who lives and works within the territory administered by the Municipality of Korça, whether large or small businesses, or ordinary citizens.
In his public statement Mr. Meçollari emphasized that “There is no better opportunity than the discussion of local taxes and fees to further promote public participation in the decision making; there is no better opportunity than this one to further enhance the transparency standards in Korça town”.
In his public statement Mr. Meçollari emphasized that the Municipality of Korça has already a good tradition to absorb the public opinion during the decision making process. However “There is no better opportunity than the discussion of local taxes and fees to further promote public participation in the decision making; there is no better opportunity than this one to further enhance the transparency standards in Korça town”.
During the meeting the CPII Director, Gerti Shella, reiterated that the discussion of Fiscal Package with the community is above all a legal obligation. Law No 8652, “ON ORGANIZATION AND FUNCTIONING OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT”, in its article 35 “On counseling sessions with municipality and the right of the public to be informed” expressly provides that: “Prior to the review and approval of acts, the municipal council conducts counseling sessions with the municipality. The counseling sessions are obligatory in cases provided for in article 32, letters “dh”, “e”, “f” and “k”; …where in the concrete case , “f” is when the Council “decides on local taxes and fees, as well as their level”

For more than one year now, the Citizens’ Transparency Office has been monitoring the activity of the Municipal Council of Korça in respect of the obligations deriving from the articles 33, 34 and 35 of Law No 8652. This public appeal made by CPII and its branch, CTO to the Municipal Council to follow the strict legal provision on the matter, was made for the first time ever in Korça by a civil society operator.