Bisnode analysis is out - Umag is a big spender, Kutjevo most frugal among Croatian cities
According to the Bisnode analysis and report issued by 034 Portal on January 2, 2016, city of Umag is the biggest spender when it comes to the amount of money it spends per employed city administrator with 2735 kuna per official. City of Kutjevo on the other hand is on the bottom of this list with 183 kuna per official.
When asked how they manage to maintain such low costs, mayor of Kutjevo Josip Budimir answered: “ City of Kutjevo puts aside 5% of its budget for the Administration department while the legal maximum limit is 20%. When it comes to our own wages, we all receive the minimal wage. We are realistic and are not wasteful. The first thing I did was cut my own monthly pay by 3 000 kuna. After that, all other city officials took a pay cut of 15 to 20% - major Budimir commented.
It is interesting to note that only 18 months ago, when major Budimir first took office, City of Kutina was 7 million kuna in deficit so austerity measures were a must. Now, debt is only about 1 million kuna and according to the mayor, it will be dealt with in the next few months: “Unfortunately, we cannot really influence our revenue. Our largest source of income is income tax. Bad economic situation and the fact that so many people are leaving the city have greatly affected an already difficult financial outlook. What we can do s control expenditure, we have cut our wages and reduced all unnecessary costs to a minimum” Budimir added.
Josip Budimir is also the youngest mayor ever elected in Croatia, he was only 26 when he was elected, proving that you don’t need the wisdom that comes with age to be economically savvy.
