Split city councillors face one of the most extensive sessions of the City Council on Thursday, 12 November. The agenda includes as many as 57 items, among them the rebalancing of the city budget for 2026, a new Decision on Public Order, reports from city-owned companies, and issues related to the Croatian National Theatre Split.
Ahead of the session, the political platform Direkt issued a statement criticising the proposed amendments to the city budget. It claims that funding for key infrastructure projects is being reduced while expenditure on events and self-promotion is increased. The platform described the session in the headline of its post as the “Ironman of the City Council”.
According to Direkt, funds for the Youth Centre, Put Žnjana and Lovrinačka Street are being cut, while allocations for Advent, protocol and public relations are being raised. The platform also claims that the budget line for city marketing is set to increase by almost 70 per cent under the proposed rebalancing. It cites the justification for the budget amendments, which, according to the platform, lists “Video for social media, engagement of external collaborators” among the reasons for the increase.
“Less money for the Youth Centre, Put Žnjana and Lovrinačka, but more for Advent!” Direkt states. It adds: “So, while projects wait, promotion must not stop!” According to the platform’s interpretation, the reduction in planned amounts for certain projects indicates that some previously announced investments will not be realised on the predicted schedule.
Direkt assesses that public promotion, events and social media content are more important to the city authorities than the timely realisation of planned investments. “Clearly, parties, self-promotion and good material for social media are more important than the actual needs of citizens,” it highlights.
The budget rebalancing is one of the most important financial documents decided upon by the City Council. It aligns planned revenues and expenditures with the needs and possibilities of realising specific programmes during the year. A reduction in funds for a specific budget line does not necessarily mean a complete abandonment of the project — it may be the result of a change in the dynamics of works, longer public procurement procedures, design phases, or the resolution of property and legal relations.
Direkt considers the city authorities responsible for planning and achieving the set investments and believes they should explain to citizens why certain planned amounts are being reduced. “Because if there are no results to boast about, you can always pay for people to speak well of you,” the platform states.
The platform emphasises that the city budget is adopted for the entire year and considers that the authorities must be accountable for the non-realisation of planned projects, as well as for subsequent changes in priorities. It concludes its post with the message: “BREAD AND CIRCUSES. PROJECTS CAN WAIT.”
