Akhaltsikhe Municipality: Meeting Continues on “Participatory Budgeting”

In Akhaltsikhe Municipality of Georgia, meetings are going on under the project “Participatory Budgeting” . Recently a working meeting was held under the First Deputy Mayor Ilia Zardiashvili to discuss the various initiatives of the Municipality.

This meeting was also attended by Nino Rukhadze, head of the organisation “Center for Formation of Civil Society” and representatives of the City Hall Services. This meeting of the Civil Budget Council discussed the various projects on the following criteria:

Legal aspects of Budget 

1.  is the municipality authorised to implement the presented project under a legal provision

Technical aspects of a budget 

1.  how much can the project be implemented as per law

Budgets’s Financial aspects

1.  Estimation of the estimated value of the presented project

Deadlines for Project implementation 

1.  whether the specified deadlines correspond to the real possibilities

It is to be specifically mentioned that at the meeting some of the initiatives in the City Hall are already considered in the action plan for next year of 2024. Moreover, with regard to the project proposals, there will be a voting procedure in the near future, and the winning initiatives will be financed from the local budget of the Municipality.

Some of the Verified project proposals are as follows:

1. St. in Abi settlement. Fencing the perimeter of the Cathedral of St. Michael the Archangel

2. Summer Festival “Meet the summer with music”

3. Rehabilitation of the square and sports field at the intersection of Aspindza and Gvaramadze streets

4. Eco-friendly panchayat (solar power plant)

5. Umbrella street in the city

It should be noted that for the civil budget program in 2024, total 100,000 GEL will be allocated from the local budget of Akhaltsikhe municipality which will be used to finance projects presented by the population.

The meeting also highlighted the achievement of the Municipality for the current year. It was also said that more transparency will brought to budget preparation.it was said that more opportunities will be given to the general public to share their views and suggestions with the local authorities.

They also expressed hopes that in the future, more effort will be made to implement the suggestions and views which have been shared by the local population.  

 At the end of the meeting, the First Deputy Mayor Ilia Zardiashvili thanked all the participants for their valuable suggestions. He also stated that the budget would be public-centric and public-friendly.