CONTROL OVER THE FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT OF THE MUNICIPALITY

Občina je temeljna samoupravna lokalna skupnost. Gre za organizirano skupino ljudi, ki preko predstavnikov sama odloča o svojih, lokalnih zadevah, torej zadevah ki se tičejo življenja in dela prebivalcev na tem ozemlju. Je samostojna gospodarska enota z lastnim premoženjem. Lokalne zadeve javnega pomena financira občina iz lastnih virov, sredstev države in zadolževanja. Prihodki in izdatki za financiranje javne porabe občine morajo biti zajeti v proračunu občine (57. člen ZLS). Občina je v okviru svojih pristojnosti, ki so izraz decentralizacije javne uprave, na svojem območju resda nosilec oblasti, a vendar je del države, del celote in zato ni suvereni nosilec oblasti, temveč je odvisna od države. Izvorni »dobavitelji« javnih sredstev smo državljani, v funkciji davkoplačevalca. Kot taki imamo pravico zahtevati preverjanje odgovornosti tistih, ki jim je zaupano upravljanje z javnimi sredstvi. Vsaka sodobna in demokratična država potrebuje ustrezen in učinkovit sistem nadzora nad neposrednimi in posrednimi uporabniki javnih sredstev, kamor spada tudi občina. Ta ima dolžnost, da z javnimi sredstvi zakonito, učinkovito in gospodarno ravna, ter tako zagotavlja kvalitetne javne dobrine. Sistemi nadzora nad finančnim poslovanjem občine so potrebni, da preprečijo prekoračitev ustavnih in zakonskih omejitev pooblastil in zagotovijo ravnotežje med javnim interesom, interesom občine in individualnimi pravicami. V diplomskem delu se bom posvetila nadzoru nad finančnim poslovanjem občine. Finančni nadzor je opredeljen v desetem poglavju Zakona o javnih financah /ZJF/ (Uradni list RS, št. 79/1999, 124/2000, 79/2001, 30/2002, 56/2002-ZJU, 110/2002-ZDT-B, 127/2006-ZJZP, 14/2007-ZSPDPO, 109/2008, 49/2009, 38/2010-ZUKN, 107/2010, 11/2011-UPB4, 110/2011-ZDIU12). Zakon določa, da mora župan, kot predstojnik občine, poskrbeti za vzpostavitev ustreznega sistema finančnega poslovanja, notranje kontrole in revizije. To pomeni, da mora občina organizirati notranje revizijske službe za svoje potrebe in za potrebe organov iz njene pristojnosti. Ne glede na to, pa občinski svet občine imenuje člane nadzornega odbora, ki kot najvišji organ nadzora javne porabe v občini, opravlja nadzor nad razpolaganjem s premoženjem občine, nadzoruje namenskost in smotrnost porabe proračunskih sredstev ter finančno poslovanje uporabnikov proračunskih sredstev (32. člen ZLS). Finančni nadzor izvajata tudi Računsko sodišče Republike Slovenije in Ministrstvo za finance, prav tako pa imajo na tem področju, kar zadeva sredstva s strani Evropske Unije, svoje pristojnosti tudi institucije Evropske unije. Kljub različnim institucijam nadzora, tako notranjim na ravni občine, kot zunanjim na državni ravni, so prisotne graje, da se ugotovljenim nepravilnostim navkljub nič ne zgodi. Razlog za to naj bi bilo pomanjkanje sistema, ki bi omogočal sistematičen nadzor in ustrezne kazni. Pogoste so kritike, da v Sloveniji ni organa, ki bi imel materialne in kadrovske zmožnosti za izvajanje učinkovitega nadzora, ne samo nad občinami pač pa nad vsemi subjekti javnega sektorja in vsemi funkcionarji. Ravno o sistemih in oblikah nadzora nad finančnim poslovanjem občine ter njihovi ustreznosti in učinkovitosti bo govora v tej diplomski nalogi.Municipality is a fundamental self-governing community. It is an organized group of people, who elect representatives to make decisions about local affairs-issues concerning life and work of people residing on that territory. It is an independent economic unit with its own assets. Local matters of public interests are financed from its own resources, government funds and loans. All incomes and outcomes must be included in the budget of the municipality. Municipality, as expression of decentralization of the public administration, is within its jurisdiction the holder of power on its territory. However, it is still part of the state and as such dependant, as opposed to being the sovereign holder of power. Public funds are primarily obtained from citizens in our role as taxpayers. This gives us the right to demand an examination of responsibility of those entrusted with the management of public funds. Every modern and democratic state requires appropriate and effective control system over direct and indirect consumers of public funds, which include municipality. It is its duty to manage public funds legally, economically and efficiently in order to ensure quality public goods. Supervision over management of municipality, its organs and legal entities established or owned by municipality, is necessary to prevent exceeded authorization of local elected representatives, officials and other public servants. Appropriate supervision ensures balance among public interests, local interests and individual interests of local residents but at the same time enables individuals to pursue personal interests. In this work I will focus on the systems of supervision over the financial management of the municipality. According to the law, the mayor, as the head of municipality, must established appropriate systems of financial management, internal control and review. It is the responsibility of municipality to organize internal review services for its own needs and the needs of the institutions that fall under its jurisdiction. Regardless, municipal council appoints members of supervisory board, which as the highest authority on public spending in municipality exercise control over the property of municipality, purposefulness and efficiency of consumed budget funds and financial management of their consumers. Financial supervision is furthermore performed by the court of audit and ministry of finance as well as EU institutions regarding funds from EU. Despite different institutes of supervision, internal on the level of municipality and external on the state level, there are criticisms, that even though irregularities are discovered, no action is taken. The reason for this is supposed to be a lack of system capable of systematic supervision and the administration of appropriate penalties. In this work I will be writing about systems of control and supervision over the financial management of municipality and its adequacy