Ljubljana - The Ljubljana city council endorsed on Monday a revised budget for this year, under which the municipality will end 2021 with a EUR 5.3 million deficit instead of a EUR 1.2 million surplus.

Saša Bistan, the head of the city finance department, said at the session that revenue was set at EUR 390 million and expenditure at EUR 395 million.

This year, EUR 63 million is expected to be earned through the compensation for the use of building land, and revenue from the tourist tax is expected to stand at EUR 2 million, one million less than in the previous budget.

According to Bistan, the utility contributions from investors are to bring EUR 31.3 million to the budget, or EUR 19 million less than previously planned, as individual construction projects are being moved to the coming years.

Revenue from the state will amount to EUR 10.7 million, down EUR 2.7 million, while revenue from the EU will amount to EUR 17.3 million, which is just under EUR 16 million less than in the previous budget.

Councillor Ksenija Sever of the Democrats (SDS) noted the increase in funding for the Ilirija swimming pool. While the indicative price was EUR 35 million in 2019, it rose to EUR 63.5 million in the latest supplementary budget.

"A new swimming pool should be built for that money and only be used for training of swimmers, and the Ilirija pool should be renovated to serve the citizens, the elderly and children," Sever said.

Mayor Zoran Janković said the information that Ilirija would be available only to swimming clubs was incorrect, and that the facility would be "intended for all."

Independent councillor Dragan Matić equated the budgeting to "playing an accordion". "The same ritual is repeated every year, at the beginning of the year the budget is inflated, and then deflated with supplementary budgets at the end of the year."

The councillor also confirmed today budgets for the next two years. For 2022, the municipality plans EUR 462.8 million in revenue and EUR 463 million in expenditure for a deficit of some EUR 210,000 at the end of the year.

Ljubljana is expected to return to surplus of almost EUR 3 million in 2023, when EUR 443.7 million in revenue and EU 440.7 million in expenditure is planned.

Despite warnings from the opposition about unrealistic budgeting, Mayor Janković already announced budget revisions for 2022 and 2023.