Cities have more money than ever and less time than ever

Ana Fresl, president of the HUP association for professionals in European Union funds and director of the consulting firm for EU funds Projekt jednako razvoj, explained in her presentation at Lider’s Smart Cities conference how to finance projects in cities and how to best utilize funding sources.

– At this moment, there are more than 100 calls for proposals announced for local government units, for example, for the development of broadband internet infrastructure, investment in digital skills and digital inclusion of citizens, energy renovation of buildings, ICT solutions for public administration, e-services, applications, green infrastructure in cities, multimodal mobility, sustainable tourism, remediation of brownfield areas, nature conservation and biodiversity, etc. Local government units have double the funds available due to the pandemic, which means double the opportunities, double the co-financing, but also double the risks. And that implies double the courage. The time for projects is right now – emphasized Fresl. She also warned that in a phase of inflation and uncertainty, there is a chance that there will be no bids for the calls, and on top of that, too many projects will be implemented simultaneously, mainly at the end of 2025 and the beginning of 2026. 

 – It will be tight to meet that deadline. Numerous projects will overlap, e-consultation in the NPOO is not mandatory, and the call can only be announced once because there will be no more time. Therefore, it is necessary to strengthen the capacities of local government units not only for the sake of funds but also due to the complexity of expectations during the period and rules – concluded Fresl, with the message that projects should now be developed in the context of challenges such as inflation and  demographics.

Representatives of the cities of Rijeka, Karlovac, Zaprešić, Varaždin, and Zagreb discussed such projects on a panel.

The Croatian model in developing smart solutions is the city of Rijeka, which collaborates with over 20 partners in developing application solutions, and its mayor Marko Filipović listed several previous ‘smart’ projects, such as enrolling children in kindergarten through the e-citizen system, consolidated bills from all utility companies, and announced future goals such as introducing a city card that will allow all payments to be made without fees. Filipović warned of a significant challenge faced by cities, which is the enormous increase in energy prices. – Until recently, the city of Rijeka paid one million euros annually for electricity. Now, according to the values of public procurement contracts, that amount is between four and five million, and I do not know how we could find those funds through a budget rebalance. We need a concrete decision from the government and dialogue at the national level, to see how we will all face this together – concluded Filipović. 

Željko Turk, mayor of Zaprešić and president of the Association of Cities, also listed other problems that cities are currently facing, such as uncertainty, possible escalation of the global crisis, and not always fruitful cooperation with public institutions and the state.

– There is currently no local government unit that does not face the challenge of budget rebalancing due to rising energy prices. This is a huge challenge for cities. We have two times more funds and new financing ahead of us, but with that comes new borrowing – emphasized Turk.

Neven Bosilj, mayor of Varaždin, mentioned the implemented map of solar potentials, which is an application through which every citizen can find their house, enter their electricity consumption amount, and calculate what the equivalent would be in solar panels. He mentioned some digitalization projects of the city administration, such as the transparent publication of salaries in public administration, and announced the development of a rural area development strategy.

Darko Šiško, representative of the City of Zagreb, emphasized that the priorities of the metropolis remain financial consolidation and reconstruction of public facilities after the earthquake. – So far, 258 public buildings have been reconstructed, of which 163 are from the education system, then culture, health, etc. As for private facilities, that is under the jurisdiction of the state – said Šiško. He announced a significant change for Zagreb, a new waste collection system that will be based on smart solutions.  Damir Mandić, mayor of Karlovac, emphasized that the Smart City Development Strategy is one of the smartest moves of the city administration that has helped them determine priorities and goals. And that smart solutions do not only imply digitalization but that citizens derive some real benefits from it.