Monday was supposed to be the day when local government organizations would present their views to the government on the draft law on local revenues. The Joint Committee on Government and Local Administration met for this purpose. For the past two weeks, experts have been discussing changes to local government financial regulations as part of a special working group.
Marek Wójcik, secretary of KWRiST, an expert from the Association of Polish Cities, quoted by PAP said that the opinion will not be issued because the local government side did not receive the draft version after inter-ministerial consultations and did not receive a response from the Ministry of Finance to the comments submitted by local government companies.
Wójcik also recalled the demands that local government officials raised during talks with experts. – We ask that the law include two anchors for actions related to changes. The first is to find a provision that obliges us to review the assigned tasks as soon as possible and standardize their financing. Secondly, this act should include a similar solution regarding mutual commitment to develop a new education financing system, he said. He recalled the requirement to transfer an additional amount of not less than PLN 10 billion to local governments this year to improve their financial liquidity.
Local government revenues: little time for final decisions
The Ministry of Finance assured that the local government side will receive a version of the draft law after ministerial consultations yesterday (Monday) (it is not available on the website of the Government Legislation Center, nor have any comments been submitted to the draft). Andrzej Domański, Minister of Finance, after hearing the demands recalled by Marek Wójcik, said: “Accepting the comments presented, I can say that there is little time for further work. If we want this reform to come into force on January 1, 2025, which I have been saying since our first meetings, there is simply little time left to implement the demands presented if we want to have a good draft.” He recalled that next week the government will discuss the state budget for the next year. The head of the ministry fears that a discussion on the criteria determining future revenues is possible, although this will prolong the negotiations. – If the condition is to add another PLN 4 billion to the system to the PLN 23 billion that will currently benefit the local government, then I must say clearly that this will not happen – Domański said.
