Three Macedonian Mayors Join Forces, Conserve Resources
July 1, 2005 came and went. For Georgi Manushev, the Mayor of Bosilovo, this date represented both an opportunity and one of the biggest challenges he’d ever faced. As of the first of July, local municipalities in Macedonia took on far more responsibility for local governance, a process called decentralization.
“I was excited but not sure if my team would be able to cope” says Manushev. “We’re a small municipality with a population of 14,500 and limited administrative resources.”
But while some may say that small means less powerful, this was not the thinking of Manushev. Together with two other mayors from nearby villages, Vasilevo (pop. 12,100) and Novo Selo (pop. 15,000) a consortium was formed in south eastern Macedonia with the goal of making joint administration work.
Joint administration has never been tried in Macedonia. Nonetheless, the three mayors, who’d been presented with the concept at a United States Agency for International Development (USAID) funded training, were able to get the Civil Servants Agency (CSA) to endorse their plan to form joint administration units to oversee property tax, city planning, and inspections.
By working together, the mayors hope to be able to increase tax revenues through more efficient collection. And, while they’re at it, they hope to save the taxpayer money: joint administration is expected to lead to a reduction in payroll expenses.
Municipal staff from the three villages have already begun working together, conducting a joint real estate survey in order to gather data for upgrading the property tax database. And the new city planning unit is already issuing building permits.
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The mayors set out to prove that joint administration can save money
(From left to right: Georgi Manushev, Mayor of Bosilovo, Nikola Andov, Mayor of Novo Selo, Slave Hristov, Mayor of Vasilevo) |
“This is our own pilot project,” says Nikola Andov, the mayor of Novo Selo. “We are excited, but we are aware of the challenges ahead. Breaking the ice is not easy, but we shall succeed.”
For small communities, joint administration could be a matter of life or death. Small municipalities, unable to perform their duties due to decentralization could be abolished.
The move is popular with residents.
“Yes we know that the three villages will have joint administration. We are optimistic that the idea will work and that we shall see some benefits from it” says Angelova Katinka a resident of Novo Selo.
The concept of joint administration was introduced at a training organized for Mayors and Municipal Council Members, one in a series set up by USAID’s Decentralization Project. A host of other organizations are involved: the Civil Servants Agency (CSA); the Ministry of Local Self-Government; UNDP, and SOROS.
USAID has also financed the production of two practical working manuals designed to help municipalities take on their new post-decentralization roles.
“At first I thought it was going to be an ordinary, run-of-the-mill training,” says Manushev, “but it turned out to be the most valuable training session I have ever attended.”
The efforts of these three mayors have not gone unrecognized. Macedonia’s Ministry of Local Self-Government has nominated their joint administration project for the European Union’s Best Municipal Practice Award, worth over $600,000.
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