On Friday, 5 December 2014, the meeting room of Basarabeasca District Council hosted the training seminar “Organising public hearings on the local budget” and the workshop “Preparing 2015 local budgets: the revenue component”. Both were held within the project “Assistance to target local authorities in strengthening local public finance management capacities”, funded by the UNDP Moldova Joint Integrated Local Development Programme and implemented with the assistance of experts from the Institute for Urban Development. The project’s beneficiaries are the local authorities of Basarabeasca district.
The sessions were moderated by Veaceslav Bulat, Director of IDU, Nicolae Tudoreanu, mayor, and Viorica Șcerbina. Participants included mayors, chief accountants, local council secretaries and specialists from town halls and public institutions. Basarabeasca District Council was represented by Ms Liudmila Niculiță, Head of the Finance Directorate.
The aim of the training seminar on organising public hearings on the local budget was to increase knowledge and skills in preparing, organising and holding such hearings. The seminar covered the regulatory framework, the stages of preparing and organising a public hearing, the roles and responsibilities of organisers, the preparation, content and dissemination of information materials (announcement, presentation of the draft budget, hearing rules, leaflets, press release, etc.), how to conduct the hearing and follow-up activities. Participants also exchanged experience based on existing practice in the district’s localities.
At the workshop “Advice on preparing 2015 local budgets: the public revenue component”, the experts presented the results of their analysis of the local budgets of Basarabeasca district for 2010–2014. This was followed by a discussion of opportunities and potential for increasing local revenues, with particular attention to local taxes and duties and to external sources. Local authorities received recommendations on strengthening the tax base and increasing own revenues for 2015. The workshop closed with a discussion of challenges and opportunities in identifying financial resources, both local and external.
The next stage of the project is the organisation of public hearings on local budgets, to be held from 11 to 25 December 2014.
Institute for Urban Development, contact person: Viorica Șcerbina, tel./fax +373 22 211 467, e-mail: office@idu-moldova.org.