The ninth session of the Pakrac City Council was held on 28 October. The agenda included the operations of the Maslačak Kindergarten, an increase in the municipal fee rate, road maintenance, and semi-annual reports on the mayor's work and budget execution.
The session began with the suspension of councillor Violeta Vonić's mandate and the commencement of the mandate of HDZ councillor Anita Skalnik. The most debate was sparked by the proposal to increase the municipal fee by 20 per cent and the financial state of the City.
The work programme of the Maslačak Kindergarten in Pakrac was unanimously accepted, and councillor Tamara Vujanić (SDP) joined the praise for the nursery's work. Director Katarina Lahovsky Kobetić confirmed that organising operations is challenging, particularly during enrolment and the allocation of children to groups, but stated that the waiting list is currently not large. In the latest enrolments, only children whose parents do not both work remained. In the nursery age group, six children have not yet reached one year of age, while all children who have reached one year of age have been enrolled in the kindergarten. According to the director's estimate, there is currently no real need to build or extend the nursery, and in the event of a need, there are free places in the branch facilities in Badljevin and Donja Obriježa.
Councillor Zoran Krejči (SDP) asked why the transferred deficit of the nursery had increased from €112,000 to €130,000. The director stated that there is currently no need for a new nursery, that she has no authority to build new facilities, and that it is very difficult to maintain six facilities with the €90 paid by parents. She is personally against building a new facility as it would be more logical to expand existing capacities, and she will provide data on the transferred deficit in writing. Councillor Anita Skalnik was interested in whether the job systematisation allows for the employment of a medical technician who would assist in the nursery groups. The director clarified that the job of assistant nurse is no longer provided for in the systematisation, and the nursery currently has two assistants for care, supervision and accompaniment, and one assistant for children with developmental difficulties.
Councillor Josip Lujanac (HDZ) requested data on the share of city funds allocated for the nursery's operations. Mayor Tomislav Novinc replied that the economic price of the nursery is €550, while parents pay €90 monthly for the first child, the price for the second child is 50 per cent lower, and care is free for the third child. They allocate around €120,000 monthly for employee salaries, travel expenses, sick leave and other related costs, and receive around €31,000 from the state for fiscal equalisation for the nursery. Councillor Tamara Vujanić advocated for considering a model where parents would pay an amount depending on their income, at least for the first child, and proposed introducing more price categories, for example based on the average salary of parents.
During the current affairs hour, councillors raised a number of questions related to the work of city companies, the state of the city budget, employment in the city administration, and the implementation of important infrastructure projects. Among the topics were the recycling yard at Crkvište, water billing, road reconstruction, the construction of a sports hall, and the announced road connection of Pakrac to the D5 motorway. Councillor Zoran Hofman (HDZ) asked the mayor about the state of construction of the recycling yard for construction material at Crkvište. The mayor replied that the project for the disposal of non-hazardous construction waste had passed the first phase of construction, that they plan the second phase of works next year, and the third in 2028, when they expect to obtain the use permit and open the yard. The project is being implemented in cooperation with the City of Lipik, with each city participating with 50 per cent.
President of the City Council Miroslav Ivančić pointed out the problem of water billing via advance payment slips. He highlighted that an increasing number of citizens are approaching him dissatisfied with the recently introduced calculation method by Tekija d.o.o., specifically its Pakrac-Lipik Branch. Citizens consider the amounts on the slips to be unrealistic because water consumption differs between summer and winter months, and an additional problem is the inability to easily submit water meter readings (self-reading) by phone or email. Ivančić also warned about information that certain users who had not paid the advance, but according to actual consumption, had received enforcement orders and ended up in court proceedings. The mayor agreed that it was a problem pointed out by other citizens, stated that such rules are defined in Tekija's general terms, and that he would contact Tekija to find a way to enable the submission of water meter readings. Ivančić emphasised that this was an inquiry made on behalf of the City Council.
Councillor Zoran Krejči (SDP) asked why there was no report on the work and financial operations of Tekija at the session, highlighting that the City of Lipik had already discussed this topic at its sessions. The mayor replied that he would invite the director of Tekija to submit a report to the City Council. Krejči asked the new head of the Finance Department, Robert Tubić, about the state of the city budget. Head Tubić replied that the City regularly settles its obligations and that a loan was taken, or an approved overdraft permitted, to ensure financial liquidity. He stated that the only unexpected situation that surprised him was one guarantee refund from 2020. Mayor Novinc added that thanks to the loan, all planned projects had been paid on time and that works are nearing completion. Krejči highlighted that Tubić is the third head of the Finance Department of the City of Pakrac in a short period.
Councillor Tamara Vujanić (SDP) raised the issue of employment in the city administration, particularly the procedure for selecting the head of the Department for Social Activities and Economy. She asked why the tenders for the head position had been changed and cancelled multiple times. She stated that for the first time, the field of humanities was specified in the tender, after which the tender was cancelled, that the artistic field was added in the next tender, and then a tender with the same conditions was published again. The mayor replied that the first tender was cancelled due to a procedural error and clarified that the change in systematisation was carried out for all head positions to widen the circle of potential candidates. Vujanić highlighted that along with the changes to the systematisation and the publication of the tender, an explanation of the reasons for such changes should also be given, questioned the justification for including the artistic field in the conditions for a head position covering social activities and economy, and stated that she had investigated how this is regulated in other cities and had not found an example where the artistic field was specified as a condition for such a job.
