Mostar City Council: Budget in preparation, Statute amendments not considered

MOSTAR, (Patria) - The Mostar City Council is meeting today, and as Mayor Mario Kordić stated to the City Council, work is underway to create the budget for Mostar, and a budget deficit of five million BAM has been identified.

"We have also contacted judicial bodies, where we have one possibility to cover the budget deficit, and that is a final court ruling in the dispute with Elektroprivreda BiH. In the hope that we will resolve this deficit, we are talking to people so that by March 10th we can arrange the Draft Budget to open a public debate, which should be around March 25th, in order to adopt the best budget for the City of Mostar," Kordić said.

Arman Zalihić, a councilor of SDP BiH, withdrew the proposal for amendments to the Statute of the City of Mostar from the agenda, given that the working bodies that need to provide their opinion before inclusion on the session agenda have not been formed.

The Mostar City Council has formed working bodies, committees, and commissions. Thus, the Council will have the Committee for Finance and Tax Policy; Committee for Housing and Utilities; Committee for Infrastructure and Transport; Committee for Urban Planning, Construction, and Environmental Protection; Committee for Economic Development; Committee for Social Activities. The Mostar Council will also have a Commission for the Statute, Legal Acts, and Legality Oversight; Commission for Elections and Appointments; Commission for Relations with Religious Communities and Non-Governmental Organizations; Commission for Human Rights Protection, Appeals, and Petitions; Commission for Cooperation and Association of Local Authorities; Commission for Awards and Recognitions; Commission for Special Population Categories; Commission for the Return of Refugees and Displaced Persons; Commission for Youth; Commission for Gender Equality.

The task of these bodies is to consider and prepare proposals for Decisions and other acts and to study other issues within the competence of the Mostar City Council. These working bodies of the Mostar City Council provide opinions, submit proposals, and report to the Mostar City Council on specific issues within their scope, and they can make decisions exceptionally, and only on matters that are assigned to them for decision-making by the Rules of Procedure of the Mostar City Council or by a special Decision of the Mostar City Council. Practically, all proposals for Decisions and other acts submitted to the Mostar City Council must be considered in the relevant working bodies, depending on the area and type of matter that is the subject of the proposed decisions and other acts, before being included in the Agenda of the Mostar City Council session.