engleski

Linking Local Development Plans and Local Budgets in Croatia

This paper argues that, in Croatia, strategic development planning will become an increasingly important tool for local governments to improve their performance. Development plans and strategies are not new terms for local levels of government in Croatia, but the old way of producing them neglected often the real needs and priorities of the local population. A new awareness about an integrative and strategic approach to development planning is emerging in Croatia. However, implementability still remains an open question, even though participatory approaches are applied and the issue of “ ownership” considered. At the same time, it is often overlooked that strategic development plans can serve as underlying documents for short- and medium-term budgetary planning. The main purpose of this research paper is to suggest ways of linking strategic development planning at local level with budgetary procedures, the results of which establish a methodological foundation for improved fiscal and developmental planning. This would contribute to increasing the capacity and capability of local self-governments for development and would also enable them to take over more decentralised functions.

Strategic development planning; local budgets; decentralization

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