Ombudsman: Only the Constitutional Court can assess the constitutionality of the Decision on utility taxes in Zenica

The City Ombudsman of Zenica has instructed the members of the City Council to seek an opinion from the Constitutional Court of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina regarding the constitutionality of the Decision on increasing utility taxes in Zenica, writes Patria.

The Mayor of Zenica, Fuad Kasumović, proposed, and the city councilors supported by a majority vote, the Decision under which utility taxes for betting shops in the Zenica area are increased from the previous 3,000 to 30,000 to 50,000 KM per betting point, depending on the location of the betting shop.

Organizers of games of chance consider this Decision of the local authorities in Zenica to be unconstitutional and discriminatory.

„The law does not support that one type of business in the city pays high taxes, while others are spared such levies.“
Mayor Kasumović sees nothing controversial in his decision. On the contrary, he believes the Decision is correct and will bring good to the citizens of Zenica.

To resolve this dispute, six councilors from the Party of the Center and two councilors from A-SDA requested an assessment of the constitutionality of the Decision on utility taxes in this city. They abstained during the voting on the Decision at the end of 2016.

Now, they explain, they fear that if the City loses the dispute with the betting shops, as the case will end up in court, the City would have to pay the organizers multi-million compensation, which would bring the city budget to the brink of collapse. The opinion of the Constitutional Court of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is very important to them. They believe that the Constitutional Court is the only one that can save the city budget from potential lawsuits.

Mayor Kasumović deemed the request of the eight councilors unnecessary. He accused the councilors of being under the influence of betting shops and succumbing to the pressure of money.

The City Ombudsman, on the other hand, does not think so. The Ombudsman believes that only the Constitutional Court of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina can assess whether the Decision on increasing utility taxes in Zenica is in accordance with the Constitution or not.

-Now that the Decision has already been passed and entered into force, the intervention of the Ombudsman is sought to „prevent harmful consequences for the City due to the adoption of an unconstitutional Decision...“

The Ombudsman cannot, nor is it his duty, to take concrete measures based on uncertain future consequences. In this specific case, the Constitutional Court of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the body authorized to assess whether certain decisions are in accordance with the Constitution or not – states, among other things, in the comment of the Zenica Ombudsman, writes Patria.