ZAGREB, 5 March, 2021 - Davor Nađi, who intends to run for Zagreb mayor in the May local election, on Friday spoke about cuts in the city budget that would enable the abolishment of a surtax, while downsizing the city administration, reducing transfers to citizens and rationalising operations to save HRK 3.2 billion.
"The Zagreb City administration and the city-owned utility companies have about 32,000 employees," Nađi, a candidate of the Fokus party, told a press conference, adding that that number had increased three-fold since 2011.
"We plan to reduce the number of employees to a maximum 28,000 by dismissing people hired to do unnecessary work and through severance deals for early retirement and for redundant staff," Nađi said, adding that that could lead to a saving of HRK 650 million.
There is room to save an additional one billion kuna through cost rationalisation, Nađi believes.
A total of HRK 400 million could be saved from public procurement procedures, while cuts in subsidies and allowances for citizens could help save HRK 700 million. HRK 300 million could be saved annually by reducing or abolishing stay-at-home parent allowance, he said.
"Social transfers are just a way of buying citizens and those allowances have tripled since 2011," said Nađi.
Better management of city property could increase revenue by at least HRK 600 million, he said.
"When we draw the line, we arrive at HRK 3.2 billion, of which HRK 1 billion annually could be used for tax reliefs, HRK 1 billion for the city's financial stabilisation and the remainder for an increase in investments," he concluded
