As it is not always easy to determine whether a budget document is published on the official websites of counties, cities and municipalities, the level of transparency was measured according to the following criteria:

• Budget proposal – if a document bearing this title is published on a local government unit's website, if it is published on the same website as a 'draft budget proposal', if it is published as part of materials for a meeting, or if there is a clearly stated direct link to a website containing that document.
• Enacted budget – if published on a local government unit’s website or if there is a clearly stated direct link to a website containing that document. If published in a local government unit’s official gazette, it is deemed to be published only if there is a clearly stated direct link to this particular document (e.g. ‘the 2020 budget’) or to the official gazette in which it can be found on the local government unit’s website. Otherwise, the document is not deemed to be published on the local government unit’s website. Such a decision was taken in response to the frequently inadequate searchability of official gazettes.
• Mid-year and year-end reports – if published on a local government unit’s website under those titles, or as proposals for (drafts of) mid-year/year-end budget reports, as part of materials for a meeting, or if there is a clearly stated direct link to the websites containing such documents. If published in a local government unit’s official gazette, they are deemed to be published only if there is a clearly stated direct link on the local government unit’s website to these particular documents (e.g. ‘the 2019 mid-year report’), or the official gazette in which they can be found.
• Citizens budget – if any kind of simplified budget documents, intended for citizens, has been published on a local government unit’s website (e.g. “budgets in a nutshell”, presentations, guides or brochures), or if there is a clearly stated direct link to the websites containing such documents.

Publication of the 2018 year-end and 2019 mid-year reports was examined from 4 November to 28 December 2019, and publication of the 2020 budget proposal, 2020 enacted budget and 2020 citizens budget from 3 February to 3 April 2020. 

According to Article 10 of the Act on the Right of Access to Information, public authorities are required to publish on their official websites, in an easily searchable manner and in a machine-readable formamong other things, annual plans,

Here you can get all the materials related to the presentation of the local government units' budget transparency results: November 2019 – April 2020.

Newsletter

The Institute of Public Finance regularly analyses the budget transparency of counties, cities and municipalities. 

The first and second research cycles (2013 and 2014) included all counties and cities and a sample of 100 municipalities (see Newsletters No. 81 and 87). Subsequent research cycles (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019) included all 576 local government units (see Newsletters No. 97, 107, 112, 115 and 117).

 Presentation of this research is supported by: