The Board of the Association of Kosovo Municipalities has sent a request to the Acting Minister of Finance, Transfers and Labor, Mr. Hekuran Murati, for the extension of the legal deadline for the approval of municipal budgets for the year 2026.
According to current legal provisions, municipalities are obliged that by September 30, 2025, to approve their budgets for the fiscal year 2026 in the Municipal Assemblies and then submit them to the Ministry of Finance, Transfers and Labor.
However, taking into account that from September 13, 2025 the election campaign for local elections begins, we are faced with a special situation:
1. The absolute majority of the members of the Municipal Assemblies are directly engaged in the election campaign, which makes it difficult for these bodies to function normally in the process of approving budgets.
2. It is more functional and reasonable that the municipal budgets are approved after the constitution of the new Municipal Assemblies, by the institutions emerging from the local elections.
3. This would enable:
-the budgets to reflect the priorities of the newly elected mayors and their governing programs,
-better alignment between electoral promises and financial resources,
-a more transparent and inclusive process that respects the will of the citizens.
In this regard, the Board of the AKM, as the representative body of all member municipalities, requests from You, as the Acting Minister, to take a decision for the extension of the legal deadline for the approval of municipal budgets for the year 2026, enabling this process to take place after the constitution of the new Municipal Assemblies.
P.S. The translation into English and Serbian is automated with AI.
