The Mayor of the Municipality of Tisno (SDP) Ivan Klarin stated on Tuesday in Šibenik that he has begun discussions with mayors and heads of municipalities on the islands with the aim of trying to prevent the adoption of the draft of the new Law on Financing Local Self-Government Units, which he believes would take away 16 percent of the funds from income tax revenues that the islanders have received for the past 16 years.
The proposed law recently announced by Finance Minister Zdravko Marić would allocate 60 percent of income tax revenues to municipalities and cities, with counties participating at 17 percent, a share for decentralized functions at six percent, and a share for fiscal equalization at 17 percent.
>>>Catalonia’s Independence: The Moment of Decision
– The proposed law is written in such a way that the attack on island cities and municipalities is camouflaged, and it will harm the development and standard of living of 116,000 citizens living on the islands, Klarin stated at a press conference in Šibenik. He added that “the Property Tax Law did not pass, so Marić had to come up with something new,” estimating that they would “lose 16 percent of their revenues that they used for infrastructure development.”
– In the case of the Municipality of Tisno, this amounts to about 1.5 million kuna annually that we used for the construction of waterfronts. These are our funds, as the income from income tax is paid by all citizens, and now under the guise of fiscal equalization, it would be given to municipalities and cities where HDZ employs its cadres and where nothing is earned, Klarin asserted. He also stated that “such local self-government units serve no purpose, and the ruling party does not dare to abolish them for fear of losing votes in elections.”
