Today, GAP Institute published the report " 2023 Municipal Budget Transparency Index." This report presents GAP Institutes eighth assessment of the budget transparency of municipalities in Kosovo. The evaluation is based on the number of published budget documents, the organization of budget hearings with citizens, and municipalities responses to GAP Institutes requests for access to public documents.
Contrary to the trend of the past three years, in 2023, municipal budget transparency declined, with an average score of 57.5 points. This decline was influenced particularly by technical issues affecting access to the websites of five municipalities—Skenderaj, Peja, Kamenica, South Mitrovica, and Prizren—resulting in these municipalities not being assessed this year. This decision was made to avoid penalizing these municipalities for issues beyond their control, as website management falls under the responsibility of the Agency for Information Society (AIS). Out of 100 possible points, 20 municipalities scored above average, while four municipalities achieved the maximum score of 100 points: Drenas, Hani i Elezit, Lipjan, and Vushtrri.
Based on published budget documents, conducted budget hearings, and the format of document publication, 12 municipalities showed progress compared to the previous year, 16 regressed, and 5 maintained the same score as last year. The municipalities with the most significant progress were Kaçanik (+31.5 points), North Mitrovica (+25 points), and Ferizaj (+24 points). On the other hand, the largest regressions were noted in Graçanica (-37 points), Mamusha (-20 points), Gjilan (-16.5 points), and Partesh and Ranilug (-15 points).
A total of 33 evaluated municipalities published 207 budget documents. The most frequently published documents in 2023 were the annual financial report for 2023 and the regulation on subsidy allocations. Conversely, the least published documents were the analytical account sheet for 2023 budget expenditures, the Q2 financial report for 2023, and the lists of subsidy beneficiaries. The publication of gender-responsive budgeting saw a decline, as only 12 municipalities published it in 2023, compared to 22 in 2022.
The reaf the full report click HERE.
For visualized data, you can click on the platform: MUNICIPAL BUDGET TRANSPARENCY INDEX.