THE 2021-2030 INTEGRATED URBAN DEVELOPMENT STRATEGY OF SUCEAVA FUNCTIONAL URBAN AREA ADMINISTRATIVE CAPACITY PROFILE ............................................................................................ 1 The local public administration and the existing associative structures ................................................ 1 The Suceava Municipality ............................................................................................................... 1 The Local Council of Suceava City ................................................................................................... 3 Local budgets (budget execution, operational budgets, funds raised) .................................................. 6 Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 6 Budget execution – revenues ......................................................................................................... 6 Budget execution - expenditure ..................................................................................................... 7 Budget revenues for Suceava City .................................................................................................. 9 Budget expenditure for Suceava City ........................................................................................... 19 Investments........................................................................................................................................... 30 Human and material resources............................................................................................................. 35 Human Resources ......................................................................................................................... 35 Material resources ........................................................................................................................ 38 Digital public services and the relationship with the citizens ............................................................... 41 Romania's digital performances at the level of the European Union ........................................... 41 Digitization actions at national level ............................................................................................. 44 Participatory governance and accountability: concrete measures proposed by the General Secretariat ..................................................................................................................................... 46 The authority that standardizes and unifies the digitization of the public administration in Romania ........................................................................................................................................ 46 Analysis of e-government in Suceava ........................................................................................... 47 Diagnostic analysis: conclusions, challenges, trends and recommendations ...................................... 65 Annex 1. Amendments to the State Budget Law between 2015 and 2019 and how they affected the financing of the local administrations .................................................................................................. 68 Annex 2. Organizational chart of the Suceava Municipality ................................................................. 81 ADMINISTRATIVE CAPACITY PROFILE THE LOCAL PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND THE EXISTING ASSOCIATIVE STRUCTURES The Suceava Municipality According to the Regulation on the Organization and Functioning of the specialized body of the Mayor of Suceava1, the mayor, deputy mayors and secretary of the city together with the specialized body of the Mayor of Suceava constitute the Municipality of Suceava. The Municipality is a functional structure with permanent activity that carries out the decisions of the Local Council and the mayor’s orders, solving the current problems of the local community. Institutions under the authority of the Suceava Municipality The Municipality of Suceava has three public institutions under its authority: 1. S.C. ACET S.A. 2. S.C. TERMICA S.A. 3. S.C. TRANSPORT PUBLIC S.A S.C. ACET S.A.2 ACET S.A. Suceava provides communal services in the city of Suceava, established in 1912. ACET S.A. has a share capital of RON 10,328,587.10 and 651,235 shares. The total equity capital is RON 26,201,564. The value of the public goods concessioned through management delegation contracts is RON 263,958,442.56. The shareholders are the Suceava County Council, the cities of: Suceava, Rădăuți, Fălticeni, Vatra Dornei, Câmpulung Moldovenesc and the towns of: Siret, Gura Humorului and Solca. The majority shareholder is the city of Suceava, with a participation share of 63.8054%. The Regional Operator currently serves 22,089 customers with the following territorial structure: • Suceava - 7,436 • Câmpulung Moldovenesc - 2,295 • Fălticeni - 3,273 • Gura Humorului - 2,343 • Siret - 707 • Solca - 475 • Vatra Dornei - 2,112 • Rădăuți - 3,448 The total number of water connections is 25,535, and 89.54% of these are metered. In the operating area of ACET S.A. Suceava, 164,603 people are connected to the public water supply system, and 137,281 people are connected to the public sewerage. The number of customers is expected to increase in the coming years as a result of the continued expansion of the operating area. Also, the Regional Operator intends to set up a PR department and a single office for customer relations, as well as to start actions to promote the company. ACET S.A. Suceava aims to: 1 Suceava Municipality. 2006. “Regulation on the Organization and Functioning of the specialized body of the mayor of Suceava� Link. 2 ACET S.A.. Link. 1 • ensure the provision of water and sewerage services - wastewater treatment for all users in the operating area in terms of quality and continuity, showing flexibility and adaptability to their requirements • meet the demands of consumers through its staff who is receptive, willing to collaborate, well- trained professionally and customer-oriented • ensure the protection and conservation of the environment in accordance with the Romanian legislation and European directives • manage efficiently and in good faith the public domain under concession • become a reliable partner and attractive to potential investors, running a profitable activity while taking account of the social affordability of the services provided. S.C. TERMICA S.A.3 S.C. TERMICA S.A. Suceava, whose name was “ÎNTREPRINDEREA ELECTROCENTRALE� until 1989, is located in the Southeastern part of the city of Suceava at about 8 km, between the Suceava - Bucharest railway track and the Suceava river. Scope of activity: • Supplying electricity through the National Energy System • The production, transport and distribution of thermal energy for: • urban consumers (hot water) • industrial consumers (steam and hot water) S.C. TRANSPORT PUBLIC LOCAL S.A4 SC Transport Public Local SA started its activity as such on October 1, 2005, having as shareholder the Suceava Local Council, in order to continue the provision of the public passenger transport service within the city of Suceava, following the bankruptcy of the former transport company, SC TPS SA. At its establishment, SC TPL SA took over a part of the employees of the former company as well as the car park (buses, trolleybuses, minibuses) used by it. For the first time in the city of Suceava, an organized public passenger transport activity was established in 1962 within IGO Suceava (Întreprinderea de Gospodărire Orăşenească), which in 1973 became Întreprinderea Judeţeană de Gospodărire Comunală si Locativă (IJGCL - the County Enterprise for Communal and Housing Management) and served both the city and the neighboring localities. Subsequently, in 1980, following the establishment of specialized local transport units in the country, Întreprinderea Judeţeană de Transport Local (IJTL - the County Local Transport Enterprise) started its activity in Suceava. A reference point to be noted during this period was in 1987, when the electric network for trolleybuses came into operation in Suceava, operating until 2006. After 1989, IJTL Suceava was reorganized several times under different forms and titles, namely: between 1991-1995 – Regia Autonomă de Transport Urban de Călători (the Autonomous Company for Urban Passenger Transport) (RATUC), between 1995-1998 – Agenția de Transport Local (the Local Transport Agency) (ATL) within RAUCL, and from 1998 to 2005 – SC Transport Public și Servicii SA (TPS). At the end of the 90s, following the appearance and the uncontrolled illegal (at that time) development of private passenger transport by minibuses (vans) and thus, due to unfair competition, SC TPS SA slowly started to collapse, and in the autumn of 2005 it went bankrupt. Thus, in order to support the population and also as a measure of social protection for most of the residents of the city, the Suceava Local Council decided in 2005 to establish the current company. 3 SC Termica SA. Link. 4 SC Transport Public SA. Link. 2 SC Transport Public Local SA Suceava reports to the Municipality of Suceava and provides passenger transport services to the population in the city. Since 2010, SC Transport Public Local SA has been a member of the Romanian Union of Public Transport - URTP - which is associated with the International Association of Public Transport based in Brussels. Activity reports5 The last activity report of the three autonomous companies dates from 2013. No further information is available. The Local Council of Suceava City According to the Regulation on the Organization and Functioning of the Local Council6, the Local Council of Suceava is composed of local councilors elected by universal, direct, secret, equal and free vote, under the conditions stipulated by the law on local elections. The Local Council consists of the following specialized commissions: 1. The Commission for Spatial Planning, Urban Planning and Environmental Protection 2. The Economic, Financial, Legal and Disciplinary Commission 3. The Public Services Commission 4. The Commission for Education, External Relations, Health, Family, Culture, Worship, Social Protection and Relationship with the Civil Society 5. The Commission for the development of business, tourism, youth and sports Duties of the Local Council According to article 36 of Law no. 215/2001 on the local public administration, the Local Council of Suceava has the following main duties: 1. The Local Council takes the initiative and decides, in accordance with the law, in all matters of local interest, except those that, under the law, are the responsibility of other local or central public administration authorities. 2. The Local Council has the following categories of duties: a) duties regarding the organization and functioning of the mayor’s specialized body, of the public institutions and services of local interest and of the commercial companies and autonomous companies of local interest; b) duties regarding the economic, social and environmental development of the commune, town or city; c) duties regarding the administration of the public and private domain of the commune, town or city; d) duties regarding the management of the services provided to the citizens; e) duties regarding the internal and external inter-institutional cooperation. 3. In the exercise of the duties stipulated in paragraph (2) letter e), the Local Council: a) approves the statute of the commune, town or city, as well as the regulation on the organization and functioning of the Local Council; b) in accordance with the law, at the mayor’s proposal, approves the establishment, organization and list of positions of the mayor’s specialized body, of the public institutions and services of local interest, as well as the reorganization and list of positions of the autonomous companies of local interest; 5 Activity reports of the autonomous companies. Link. 6 Suceava Municipality. 2010. “Regulation on the Organization and Functioning of the Local Council". Link. 3 c) exercises, on behalf of the territorial-administrative unit, all the rights and obligations corresponding to the shares held in commercial companies or autonomous companies, in accordance with the law. 4. In the exercise of the duties stipulated in paragraph (2) letter b), the Local Council: a) on the mayor’s proposal, approves the local budget, the transfers of credits, the way of using the budgetary reserve and the fiscal year closing report; b) on the mayor’s proposal, approves the contracting and/or guaranteeing of loans, as well as the contracting of local public debt by issuing securities, on behalf of the territorial-administrative unit, in accordance with the law; c) establishes and approves the local taxes and levies, in accordance with the law; d) on the mayor’s proposal, approves the technical and economic documentations for the investment works of local interest, in accordance with the law; e) approves the strategies regarding the economic, social and environmental development of the territorial-administrative unit; f) ensures the completion of the works and takes the necessary measures for the implementation and compliance with the provisions of the commitments undertaken in the process of European integration in the field of environmental protection and water management for the services provided to the citizens. 5. In the exercise of the duties stipulated in paragraph (2) letter c), the Local Council: a) decides on contracting out, concessioning or letting out the public property of the commune, town or city, as the case may be, as well as of the public services of local interest, in accordance with the law; b) decides on the sale, concession or letting of the private property of the commune, town or city, as the case may be, in accordance with the law; c) in accordance with the law, approves the territorial planning and urban planning documents of the localities; d) in accordance with the law, assigns or changes the names of the streets, markets and objectives of local public interest. 6. In the exercise of the duties stipulated in paragraph (2) letter d), the Local Council: a) ensures, according to its powers and in accordance with the law, the necessary framework for the provision of public services of local interest regarding: • education; • social services for the protection of children, of the disabled, the elderly, the family and other persons or groups in social need; • healthcare; • culture; • youth; • sports; • public order; • emergencies; • environmental protection and restoration; • the conservation, restoration and enhancement of historical and architectural monuments, parks, public gardens and nature reserves; • urban development; • personal records; • bridges and public roads; • community services of public utility: water supply, natural gas, sewerage, sanitation, thermal energy, public lighting and local public transport, as appropriate; • mountain rescue, lifeguard and first aid services; • social and community administration activities; 4 • social housing and other housing units owned or managed by the territorial- administrative unit; • highlighting, in the interest of the local community, the natural resources within the territorial-administrative unit; • other public services established by law; b) decides to grant bonuses and other facilities, according to the law, to the medical and educational staff; c) supports, in accordance with the law, the activity of religious orders; d) may request information and reports from the mayor, deputy mayor and from the heads of the bodies providing public services and public utility services of local interest; e) approves the construction of social housing, the criteria for the distribution of social housing and housing utilities owned or managed by it; f) may request specific information and reports from the mayor and from the heads of the bodies providing public services and public utility services of local interest. 7. In the exercise of the duties stipulated in paragraph (2) letter e), the Local Council: a) decides, in accordance with the law, the cooperation or association with Romanian or foreign legal entities, in order to finance and jointly carry out some actions, works, services or projects of local public interest; b) decides, in accordance with the law, the twinning of the commune, town or city with territorial-administrative units from other countries; c) decides, in accordance with the law, the cooperation or association with other territorial-administrative units in the country or from abroad, as well as the accession to national and international associations of the local public administration authorities, in order to promote common interests. 8. The Local Council can grant outstanding Romanian or foreign natural persons the title of honorary citizen of the commune, town or city, based on its own regulation. This regulation also establishes the conditions for the withdrawal of the granted title. 9. The Local Council performs any other duties established by law. Activity reports There is no data available on the Suceava Municipality website. Board meetings7 According to Law no. 215/2001 of the Local Public Administration, the Local Councils meet, obligatorily, once a month for ordinary meetings and, when necessary, for extraordinary meetings. The minutes of the previous meetings are adopted in the first ordinary meeting of the local deliberative body. They are always the first item on the agenda. In order to achieve a high degree of transparency of the administrative measures, the Suceava Municipality, through this website, provides you with the minutes of the meetings of the local public administration body with a deliberative role. 7 Local Council meetings. Link. 5 LOCAL BUDGETS (BUDGET EXECUTION, OPERATIONAL BUDGETS, FUNDS RAISED) Introduction A strategy maps the medium and long-term development directions, and guides the efforts of several actors. An integrated local urban development strategy is a document belonging not only to the mayor's office, but to the entire community. However, the Municipality is, in most cases, the largest local actor. A municipality not only has the power to impose taxes and regulate locally, but it is usually also the entity with the largest investment budget - far exceeding the economic strength of all other local actors. The way a municipality knows how to use this economic force is largely related to what people generically call administrative capacity. Every year, the Ministry of Development, Public Works and Administration makes public the budget executions of all territorial-administrative units in Romania. This data allows a detailed analysis of the administrative performance of each municipality in the country, and allows the identification of areas where improvements can be made. Below, we will discuss in more detail the performance of Suceava. Budget execution – revenues Municipal revenues come largely from four main sources: (1) transfers allocated from the central government; (2) amounts allocated for balancing local budgets; (3) equalization transfers; and (4) revenues from own sources, through local taxes and levies. Most discretionary revenues of local administrations come from a system of tax distribution, equalization transfers and own revenues. Basically, there are two mechanisms involved in the achievement of equalization: (1) on the basis of a share of the income tax and the VAT; and (2) an additional equalization payment derived from the income tax. In addition, there are various other subsidies allocated to support services for people with disabilities, low-income families, as well as grants from the European Union (EU) to support specific projects. The Administrative Code provides for the legal capacity of municipalities to obtain revenues from a large number of taxes and levies. These include property taxes (on land and buildings) from legal entities and individuals, taxes on motor vehicles, hotel taxes, or taxes on cultural activities (theaters, concerts, etc.). There are also a number of fees associated with the provision of various services, such as kindergartens, notaries, issuing certificates and various licenses, planning permits, building permits, interest and late payment fines, stamp duties and extra-judicial stamp duties. The table below includes a list of typical sources of revenues found in Romanian municipalities. Table 1. Categories of revenue sources of the Romanian municipalities Breakdown of local budgets – Revenue section Income tax rates and amounts Property taxes and levies Income tax components Property tax Amounts allocated from the income tax components to Land tax balance the local budgets Land book tax Judicial stamp duties, notarial stamp duties and other stamp duties Other fees for special activities * both individuals and legal entities VAT rates and amounts and equalization of transfers Vehicle ownership taxes VAT components8 Annual vehicle ownership tax Equalization transfers Fees for issuing registration certificates Other taxes Sanctions, fines and confiscations Fees for specific services Revenues from fines and other sanctions Hotel taxes Other sanctions, fines and confiscations Tax on cultural performances (concerts, theater, etc.) 8 The share of the VAT included transfers from the state budget to cover teachers' salaries (until 2017). 6 Breakdown of local budgets – Revenue section Specific local administration fees Subsidies from the state budget Revenues for projects funded from external sources Subsidies for the thermal rehabilitation of buildings European programs (Regional Fund, European Social Subsidies for social assistance Fund, European Agricultural Fund) Specific subsidies decided by the central government National funding programs Other types of subsidies Other forms of financing As mentioned above, the revenues of the local authorities are affected by an unstable and unpredictable environment, and Suceava is no exception to this rule. Successive legislative changes have an impact on local revenues, such as recent cases of lower income tax and VAT transfers, which have only been followed by short-term budgetary solutions to offset the loss of revenue. Annex 1 provides an overview of how national legislation on sub-national financing has changed in recent years. The main source of revenue for the local authorities – central transfers and equalization transfers – maintains a high degree of dependence on government decisions and impedes local fiscal autonomy. Such transfers also rarely take into account inflation rates, updated standard costs or the cash flow needs of local administrations if they undertake large-scale investment projects. Moreover, municipalities such as Suceava have limited areas of intervention when it comes to taxation, with clear national regulations in this regard. This is an impediment to medium- to long-term investment planning that requires co-financing. Budget execution - expenditure County seats such as Suceava have special responsibilities in the regions where they are located, and with these responsibilities come significant expenditure. The functions of local authorities may change and this may have a potentially high impact on their spending trends. In recent years, Romania has witnessed important changes in the relationship between the central and the local authorities, the most recent being the decision to transfer the teachers' salary payments from the local budgets to the central budget, thereby reducing the VAT rate used in the past for this allocation. Municipalities also have key responsibilities in areas such as transportation (including the local road infrastructure), social assistance, the environment – sewage and waste management, education and partly in the healthcare sector. The administration should support, inter alia, local public transport and road maintenance, investment in public buildings, water supply and wastewater treatment, recreational facilities, parks and public gardens. In cities that are county seats, spending levels are dominated by staff-related and goods and services-related expenditures, which have had a national share of over 50% in the past decade. Table 2. Categories of local budget expenditure Breakdown of local budgets - Expenditure SECTION I - Operating expenditure Staff expenditure9 Goods and services Basic salaries for employees Bonuses for working conditions Water, waste management and sewerage Other types of bonuses Street lighting and heating Delegation allowances Costs related to fuel and spare parts, etc. State contributions (social, health, unemployment and Other goods and services for daily maintenance and accidents insurance, state contributions for allowances) operations Supplies 9 Staff expenditure includes staff-related costs incurred at the level of each territorial-administrative unit, both for its own staff and for the staff of the subordinate public institutions and services, financed entirely from the local budget. 7 Breakdown of local budgets - Expenditure Food allowances, medicines and sanitation Delegation costs (transport, per diem costs) Studies and research Judicial expenditure Other types of expenditure related to goods and services Interest Subsidies Interest rate related to current local internal public debt Subsidies to cover the difference between actual and Interest rate related to current local external public debt determined costs (usually for subsidizing public services, such as local transport, heat, sanitation, etc. Reserve fund Internal transfers between local public administration Discretionary fund available to the local public authority entities Social assistance Other costs Social benefits (cash or in kind) Scholarships Support for associations and foundations (including recreational, religious, etc.) Surplus or deficit SECTION II – Development expenditure Internal transfers between local public administration Costs incurred with projects financed from external entities sources/grants European programs (Regional Fund, European Social Fund, European Agricultural Fund) National funding programs (e.g. NLDP) Other forms of financing Capital expenditure Financial assets Investments from own revenues (e.g. infrastructure Participation in the share capital of companies projects, construction, rehabilitation, etc.) Surplus or deficit The architecture of local budgets favors prudent approaches due to the volatility of revenue streams and of the local ability to manage investments in the medium to long term. Local administrations depend too much on central revenue streams and, at the same time, with small exceptions such as Suceava, do not have the administrative and financial capacity to implement large investment schemes that require long-term planning. There are a limited number of county seats that have the financial capacity to undertake large-scale investment projects or even to co-finance EU-funded projects. Instead, they focus more on smaller investments or specific infrastructure improvements. Very few entities have the capacity to support an investment entirely from their own funds and continue to rely on nationally funded programs, such as the National Local Development Program (NLDP) or the newly established – and now defunct – Development and Investment Fund. (ISD). 8 Budget revenues for Suceava City In this context, it can be observed that the city of Suceava registered fluctuating municipal revenues between 2009 and 2019, which also happened to most of the territorial-administrative units in Romania. Although the legislative changes in 2018 led to a significant decrease in local budget revenues - total revenues of RON 211 million, compared to RON 272 million in 2017 - Suceava managed to get back on a growth trend in 2019, although far from the results obtained in 2017, or in 2012 (a year with high absorption of European funds). Table 3. Revenue structure at the level of Suceava City between 2009 and 2019 (RON) Amounts Amounts Amounts allocated Amounts Amounts Amounts Amounts deducted from deducted from from the deducted from deducted received related to the Total Total own Income tax the VAT to the VAT to Other Year income tax the VAT to from the VAT Subsidies from the 2014-2020 revenues revenues components finance finance the revenues to balance balance local to finance EU/other financial decentralized sports local budgets education donors framework expenditure infrastructure budgets 2019 247,362,141 176,003,558 91,962,850 0 16,002,121 33,317,000 0 10,524,000 343,204 8,803,962 1,842,505 525,791 2018 211,091,455 146,458,130 62,779,412 500,000 25,728,347 14,172,000 0 7,111,522 3,284,442 12,558,248 100,844 1,677,922 2017 272,259,591 143,166,994 74,233,093 696,721 113,425,804 5,063,000 0 4,691,000 3,549,406 2,295,153 0 68,234 2016 239,875,180 129,130,868 63,088,942 472,879 95,835,568 7,634,742 0 3,513,000 2,542,210 602,799 0 615,993 2015 262,074,768 124,167,865 61,678,850 351,772 98,555,969 2,933,773 0 - 9,547,573 26,868,588 - 1,000 2014 221,177,933 112,968,282 50,482,532 668,691 96,936,120 4,665,520 0 - 6,161,600 446,411 - 0 2013 202,848,726 108,707,128 46,774,098 907,056 75,366,630 10,526,285 0 - 2,861,614 4,991,149 - 395,920 2012 292,448,039 104,309,924 43,482,849 1,055,692 64,590,512 35,217,138 0 - 17,141,692 19,336,366 - 51,852,407 2011 214,366,058 112,598,674 47,653,963 1,155,358 59,795,260 8,255,367 0 - 26,172,007 7,539,650 - 5,100 2010 222,870,449 106,697,259 51,173,000 1,199,768 65,065,931 14,952,229 0 - 20,392,005 - - 15,763,025 2009 222,500,455 105,971,643 56,651,494 1,006,168 78,390,974 14,681,148 691,000 - 22,716,167 - - 49,523 TOTAL 2,608,874,795 1,370,180,325 649,961,083 8,014,105 789,693,236 151,418,202 691,000 25,839,522 114,711,920 83,442,326 1,943,349 70,954,915 9 Regarding the level of the Suceava urban area, we notice a large share of the local budget at city level, given the concentration of economic activities at this level. However, it is important to mention that the Functional Urban Area has reduced the gaps compared to 2009, reaching 35% of the total local revenues in 2019. This is due to the development of the territorial-administrative units in the peri- urban area. Fluctuations can be observed at the level of local revenues in the Suceava metropolitan area (MA) and in the FUA, but less pronounced. A gratifying fact is that the local administrations adjacent to Suceava have caught up compared to 2018, since they haven’t been so strongly exposed to the legislative and budgetary changes. Moreover, the localities close to Suceava have experienced a sustained increase in budget revenues in recent years, thus indicating that Suceava is in a full process of becoming a metropolis. Table 4. Evolution of total revenues at the level of the Suceava Functional Urban Area between 2009 and 2019 (RON) Suceava City Suceava Metropolitan Suceava Functional Urban Year Area Area 2019 247,362,141 198,197,636 133,529,959 2018 211,091,455 161,054,541 110,384,892 2017 272,259,591 176,772,848 108,480,469 2016 239,875,180 147,071,855 93,751,199 2015 262,074,768 143,115,027 85,357,114 2014 221,177,933 135,893,814 88,536,535 2013 202,848,726 121,120,713 76,662,382 2012 292,448,039 113,323,329 69,969,308 2011 214,366,058 90,275,309 62,043,665 2010 222,870,449 80,337,526 58,787,577 2009 222,500,455 90,699,354 58,772,927 Total revenues 2009-2019 2,608,874,795 1,457,861,952 946,276,027 Population 125,021 Total per capita revenues 20,867 Source: Romania's Urban Policy. Processing of Urban Indicators: https://citadini.ro/baza-de-date-urbane/ Regarding the total revenues of cities that are similar to Suceava, we notice a relatively similar evolution dynamics. In absolute terms, Baia Mare had the best performance among these selected cities, with a 28% increase in total revenues between 2009 and 2019, despite the multi-year fluctuations. At the other end of the spectrum, we have Piatra Neamț and Botoșani which have recorded decreases in their total income in the same period. 10 The city of Suceava had an 11% increase between 2009 and 2019. In nominal terms, Suceava performed better than all cities of similar size in the North-East Region, and had a similar performance to that of similar cities in the North-West Region and the South-West Region. Figure 1. Evolution of total revenues at the level of comparative cities between 2009 and 2019 (RON) 450,000,000 400,000,000 350,000,000 300,000,000 250,000,000 200,000,000 150,000,000 100,000,000 50,000,000 0 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 SUCEAVA VASLUI BOTOȘANI PIATRA NEAMȚ TÂRGU MUREȘ SATU MARE BAIA MARE RÂMNICU VÂLCEA Source: Romania's Urban Policy. Processing of Urban Indicators: https://citadini.ro/baza-de-date-urbane/ The total revenues between 2009 and 2019 compared to the number of residents for the county seats place Suceava at the bottom of the ranking. Suceava ranks 37th out of 41 nationally, with a total of RON 18,152, below the national average of RON 21,159. 11 Figure 2. Evolution of total per capita revenues of cities that are county seats between 2009 and 201910 Source: Romania's Urban Policy. Processing of Urban Indicators: https://citadini.ro/baza-de-date-urbane/ A significant part of the budget revenues are represented by the income taxes components, increasing annually up to the value of RON 92 million in 2019 – an increase of approximately 64% compared to 2009. The table below shows how the VAT components for financing the decentralized expenditure have decreased sharply since 2018, since the components for the balancing of the local budgets have increased significantly, but this is due to the aforementioned legislative changes. Table 5. Evolution of revenues in Suceava between 2009 and 2019 (RON) Components for Income tax Own-source Other Year VAT share the balancing of Total components revenues share revenues local budgets 2019 91,962,850 16,002,121 84,040,708 33,317,000 22,039,462 247,362,141 2018 62,779,412 25,728,347 83,178,718 14,172,000 25,232,978 211,091,455 2017 74,233,093 113,425,804 68,237,180 5,063,000 11,300,514 272,259,591 2016 63,088,942 95,835,568 65,569,047 7,634,742 7,746,881 239,875,180 2015 61,678,850 98,555,969 62,137,243 2,933,773 36,768,933 262,074,768 2014 50,482,532 96,936,120 61,817,059 4,665,520 7,276,702 221,177,933 2013 46,774,098 75,366,630 61,025,974 10,526,285 9,155,739 202,848,726 2012 43,482,849 64,590,512 59,771,383 35,217,138 89,386,157 292,448,039 2011 47,653,963 59,795,260 63,789,353 8,255,367 34,872,115 214,366,058 10 Multiannual average 12 Components for Income tax Own-source Other Year VAT share the balancing of Total components revenues share revenues local budgets 2010 51,173,000 65,065,931 54,324,491 14,952,229 37,354,798 222,870,449 2009 56,651,494 78,390,974 48,313,981 14,681,148 24,462,858 222,500,455 Source: Romania's Urban Policy. Processing of Urban Indicators: https://citadini.ro/baza-de-date-urbane/ (calculated) The share of own-source revenues experienced a constant annualized increase, with a significant difference between 2019 and 2009 (RON 84 million compared to RON 48 million). Figure 3. Percentage evolution of revenues in Suceava between 2009 and 201911 50.0% 40.0% 30.0% 20.0% 10.0% 0.0% 2008 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 Cote defalcate din IV Cotă TVA Cotă VSP Cote defalcate pentru balansarea bugetelor locale Alte venituri Legend: Income tax components VAT share Own-source revenues share Components to balance the local budgets Other revenues+ At the level of county seats, we notice a balancing of Suceava regarding its own per capita revenues. Although it is still below the national average of RON 12,114, it has recovered several positions in the national ranking compared to the total revenues. In fact, the big difference between Suceava and the rest of the county seats indicates that the local administration has the fiscal margin to increase the revenues from taxes and levies, or to introduce alternative methods of generating them through taxes or services. 11 Multiannual average 13 Figure 4. Evolution of own revenues per capita of cities that are county seats between 2009 and 201912 Cluj-Napoca 17932 Sibiu 17161 Arad 16782 Timișoara 15820 Brașov 15417 Constanța 15222 Slatina 14946 Târgu Mureș 14716 Ploiești 14675 Miercurea-Ciuc 14451 Deva 14103 Oradea 13850 Alba-Iulia 13383 Pitești 13095 Târgoviște 13038 Tulcea 12435 MEDIA NAȚIONALĂ 12114 Râmnicu Vâlcea 12001 Buzău 11935 Bistrița 11809 Slobozia 11721 Satu Mare 11585 Craiova 11557 Sfântu Gheorghe 11553 Alexandria 11385 Zalău 11213 Focșani 11056 Târgu Jiu 10949 Baia Mare 10714 Galați 10657 Bacău 10419 Iași 10375 Călărași 10373 Giurgiu 9650 Suceava 9564 Drobeta Turnu-Severin 9288 Piatra Neamț 9256 Brăila 8681 Reșița 8523 Botoșani 8266 Vaslui 5019 Source: Romania's Urban Policy. Processing of Urban Indicators: https://citadini.ro/baza-de-date-urbane/ Income tax components have the largest contribution of the total revenues, as specified above. Between 2009 and 2019, it equaled RON 5,199 per inhabitant. According to the budget executions for the same period, the VAT rate and own-source revenues equaled RON 6,316, and 5,697, respectively, per capita. Figure 5. Breakdown of per capita income (RON) in Craiova between 2009 and 2019 12 Multiannual average, including income tax 14 Venituri totale Venituri proprii Alte venituri Cotă VSP Cotă TVA Cote defalcate din IV 20,867 2,444 1,211 1 5,697 6,316 5,199 - 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 25,000 Source: Romania's Urban Policy. Processing of Urban Indicators: https://citadini.ro/baza-de-date-urbane/ Legend: Total Own revenues Other Own-source VAT share Income tax revenues revenues revenues share components At the level of cities that are similar to Suceava, the per capita own source revenues - the difference between own revenues and income tax components, and the amounts allocated from the income tax components to balance local budgets - show good results, Suceava thus surpassing similar cities in the Northeast Region and performing better than similar cities in the Northwest Region and the Southwest Region. From this selection of cities, only Târgu Mureș had a slightly better performance. Figure 6. Own-source revenues per capita (RON) for comparative cities between 2009 and 2019 7,000.00 5,924.17 6,000.00 5,696.68 5,513.79 5,163.87 4,903.60 5,000.00 4,434.50 4,000.00 3,778.85 3,000.00 2,149.52 2,000.00 1,000.00 - Venituri sursă proprie / capita (2009-2019) Suceava Vaslui Botoșani Piatra Neamț Târgu Mureș Satu Mare Baia Mare Râmnicu Vâlcea Own-source revenues/capita (2009-2018) Source: Romania's Urban Policy. Processing of Urban Indicators: https://citadini.ro/baza-de-date-urbane/ Regarding the per capita income tax, we can see that the amounts allocated for balancing the local budgets are above similar cities in the Northeast Region, but with a lower performance than cities such as Târgu Mureș, Râmnicu Vâlcea, Satu Mare or Baia Mare. 15 Figure 7. Per capita income tax (RON) for comparative cities between 2009 and 2019 10,000.00 9,000.00 8,000.00 7,000.00 6,000.00 5,000.00 4,000.00 3,000.00 2,000.00 1,000.00 - Suceava Vaslui Botoșani Piatra Neamț Târgu Mureș Satu Mare Baia Mare Râmnicu Vâlcea Cote defalcate din impozitul pe venit / capita Sume alocate pentru echilibrarea bugetelor locale Income tax components/capita Amounts allocated to balance local budgets Source: Romania's Urban Policy. Processing of Urban Indicators: https://citadini.ro/baza-de-date-urbane/ The situation is somewhat similar for the value added tax, although the differences between comparative cities are smaller - only Vaslui had a much lower performance. Figure 8. Per capita VAT (RON) for comparative cities between 2009 and 2019 8,000.00 7,000.00 6,000.00 5,000.00 4,000.00 3,000.00 2,000.00 1,000.00 - Suceava Vaslui Botoșani Piatra Neamț Târgu Mureș Satu Mare Baia Mare Râmnicu Vâlcea Cote defalcate din taxa pe valoare adăugată / capita Sume defalcate pentru echilibrarea bugetelor locale Value added tax components/capita Components allocated to balance local budgets Source: Romania's Urban Policy. Processing of Urban Indicators: https://citadini.ro/baza-de-date-urbane/ Consistent with most Romanian cities, Suceava has the largest share of revenues from taxes and levies at local level through property taxes. For 2019, the City of Suceava collected RON 28 million from taxes on buildings (with a clearly higher share from legal entities), and RON 4 million from the land taxes (again with a higher rate of collection from legal entities). The means of transport are another important source of tax collection at local level, where almost RON 10 million were brought to the local budget in 2019 (with a total amount of almost RON 6.5 million from individuals). 16 Figure 9. Detailing the revenues from taxes and levies at local level for the city of Suceava in 2019 Impozit pe mijloace transport (TOTAL) 10,188,269.7 Impozit pe mijloace transport (PJ) 3,738,562.0 Impozit pe mijloace transport (PF) 6,449,707.6 Impozit pe teren (TOTAL) 4,018,993.0 Impozit pe teren (PJ) 2,164,221.6 Impozit pe teren (PF) 1,854,771.4 Impozit pe clădiri (TOTAL) 27,712,742.0 Impozit pe clădiri (PJ) 19,229,389.4 Impozit pe clădiri (PF) 8,483,352.5 Source: Ministry of Public Finances Legend: Tax on the means of transport (TOTAL) Tax on the means of transport (legal entities) Tax on the means of transport (individuals) Land tax (TOTAL) Land tax (legal entities) Land tax (individuals) Tax on buildings (TOTAL) Tax on buildings (legal entities) Tax on buildings (individuals) The local taxes for the city of Suceava represent approximately 31% of its own revenues in 2019. Similar shares were recorded by Baia Mare and Satu Mare. Vaslui, Piatra Neamț and Râmnicu Vâlcea had slightly higher shares, while Botoșani and Târgu Mureș had lower shares. Own revenues can usually increase through higher rates, within the margin allowed by the Fiscal Code. Taxes usually tend to be lower for individuals and higher for legal entities. The margins allowed by the tax code are relatively low and it would be worth having a discussion with the national authorities to increase the margins for the application of local taxes. 17 Table 6. The ratio of local taxes to own revenues at the level of comparative cities in 2019 (RON) Tax on Tax on the the Tax on Tax on Total Land tax means of means buildings buildings Land tax amount – Locality (legal transport of (individuals (legal (individuals) local entities) (individuals transpor ) entities) taxes13 ) t (legal entities) Suceava 6.34%; 14.36%; 1.39%; 1.62%; 4.82%; 2.79%; 31.31%; City Vaslui City 7.59%; 13.06%; 2.66%; 2.48%; 4.96%; 2.38%; 33.14%; Botoșani 6.72%; 10.67%; 1.28%; 1.09%; 5.73%; 2.12%; 27.61%; City Piatra 8.96%; 12.72%; 2.32%; 1.96%; 4.80%; 3.06%; 33.84%; Neamț City Târgu 4.31%; 11.45%; 1.40%; 1.38%; 3.16%; 2.45%; 24.15%; Mureș City Satu Mare 7.67%; 13.14%; 1.98%; 1.30%; 4.80%; 2.73%; 31.63%; City Baia Mare 5.86%; 13.22%; 2.16%; 2.39%; 4.94%; 3.00%; 31.59%; City Râmnicu 7.78%; 15.35%; 1.89%; 2.32%; 4.87%; 2.77%; 34.98%; Vâlcea City 13 Local taxes are related to own revenues consisting of all local taxes and the income tax components. 18 Budget expenditure for Suceava City The optimal prioritization of the expenditure remains a critical issue for municipalities across the country. There are no clear capital investment plans adopted and complied with at local level, there are no synergies between local and regional public investments, and major infrastructure projects are often financed from own budgetary resources, despite the fact that EU funds are available and the absorption rates remain low. Suboptimal prioritization also affects two key areas that have become a major burden on the budgets of the local authorities, namely subsidizing outdated central heating and local transport systems. In most cities that are county seats, there is no clear long-term planning for the two and they will continue to be a major expense for local authorities. EU funds are a solution for their improvement, provided that local authorities have the capacity to manage such projects. The practice of subsidizing is also common when discussing local public transport. The cost for this service is substantial and, with few exceptions, the revenue from tariffs does not even come close to covering operational costs. Investments in public transport are possible through EU funds and are considered the best possible option, although some county seats have decided to finance such investments from their own budgetary resources. The figure below shows how more than 50% of the expenditure of the county seats between 2009 and 2019 was allocated for staff (26%) and for the purchase of goods and services (25%). Capital expenditure (13%), subsidies (10%) and transfers between public administration units (7%) also played an important part, the rest of the expenditures having marginal percentage values. Figure 10. Breakdown by categories of expenditure incurred by cities that are county seats between 2009 and 2019 (average %) Cheltuieli de personal Bunuri şi servicii Cheltuieli de capital 2% 2% 1% 2% 4% 4% 26% Subvenţii 4% 7% Transferuri între unităţi ale administraţiei publice Asistenţă 10% socială Proiecte cu finanţare din fonduri 25% externe nerambursabile 13% Operatiuni financiare Dobânzi Source: Romania's Urban Policy. Processing of Urban Indicators: https://citadini.ro/baza-de-date-urbane/ Legend: Staff expenditure Goods and services 19 Capital expenditure Subsidies Transfers between public administration units Social assistance Projects funded from non-reimbursable external funds Financial operations Interests Table 7. Share of expenditures by type (averages between 2009 and 2019) Payment Projects Projects s made Transfer financed financed in s from from previous Staff Goods between Social non- Other Capital Financial TOTAL Subsidie Other non- years City expendit and Interest public assistanc reimbur expendit expendit operatio EXPENDITURE s transfers reimbur and ure services administ e sable ure ure ns sable recovere ration funds external d in the units 2014- funds current 2020 year Alba-Iulia 1,791,920,950 35.2%; 17.4%; 2.4%; 2.2%; 5.7%; 7.8%; 12.2%; 3.3%; 1.7%; 0.4%; 8.3%; 3.4%; -0.3%; Arad 4,299,999,912 26.6%; 25.4%; 0.8%; 9.9%; 5.5%; 4.5%; 4.3%; 2.5%; 0.4%; 0.9%; 15.3%; 4.6%; -0.6%; Pitești 3,672,013,793 37.5%; 22.5%; 0.1%; 14.2%; 3.1%; 0.9%; 4.7%; 3.3%; 0.1%; 0.8%; 12.5%; 0.4%; -0.2%; Bacău 3,792,622,194 32.5%; 22.1%; 2.9%; 5.2%; 5.6%; 1.6%; 9.4%; 4.1%; 0.0%; 3.3%; 9.4%; 4.2%; -0.5%; Oradea 5,633,603,248 25.0%; 17.9%; 1.4%; 10.2%; 4.4%; 5.2%; 10.6%; 2.5%; 4.5%; 1.1%; 10.3%; 8.0%; -1.0%; Bistrița 1,909,650,480 39.8%; 19.2%; 1.1%; 1.7%; 9.6%; 0.6%; 8.5%; 2.9%; 3.7%; 1.7%; 9.7%; 1.7%; -0.1%; Botoșani 2,243,724,149 38.1%; 17.1%; 1.7%; 9.1%; 8.4%; 1.0%; 4.5%; 2.7%; 0.1%; 1.4%; 12.0%; 4.1%; -0.4%; Brașov 6,179,058,835 23.3%; 30.4%; 1.1%; 7.3%; 7.9%; 3.4%; 6.3%; 3.9%; 0.4%; 1.7%; 12.6%; 2.3%; -0.6%; Brăila 3,314,432,937 36.1%; 17.2%; 0.7%; 6.6%; 12.2%; 0.8%; 8.7%; 6.0%; 0.1%; 0.9%; 9.7%; 1.2%; -0.2%; Buzău 2,892,218,432 39.5%; 31.6%; 0.4%; 11.3%; 2.3%; 1.4%; 1.6%; 2.9%; 0.1%; 2.3%; 5.3%; 1.5%; -0.2%; Reșița 1,440,721,408 43.5%; 25.8%; 3.5%; 4.5%; 0.1%; 0.1%; 1.1%; 4.3%; 0.9%; 0.2%; 11.6%; 4.4%; -0.1%; Călărași 1,388,584,167 43.7%; 30.6%; 0.3%; 2.1%; 1.1%; 1.7%; 0.8%; 5.2%; 0.4%; 2.6%; 10.5%; 1.1%; -0.1%; Cluj-Napoca 8,044,235,128 27.2%; 29.8%; 1.9%; 7.6%; 2.5%; 3.8%; 7.3%; 6.2%; 3.3%; 1.0%; 8.1%; 1.6%; -0.4%; Constanța 6,619,061,866 29.2%; 31.5%; 0.1%; 14.5%; 0.5%; 3.2%; 1.8%; 5.0%; 0.0%; 2.3%; 10.9%; 1.5%; -0.3%; Sfântu Gheorghe 1,387,641,154 39.0%; 20.7%; 0.5%; 1.6%; 7.5%; 1.3%; 6.0%; 2.1%; 0.0%; 2.2%; 15.9%; 3.3%; -0.4%; Târgoviște 2,347,815,615 41.4%; 29.2%; 0.9%; 2.3%; 0.8%; 0.2%; 11.2%; 3.7%; 0.5%; 1.0%; 6.7%; 2.5%; -0.4%; Craiova 6,001,656,897 31.7%; 25.1%; 1.1%; 5.6%; 11.1%; 1.4%; 10.1%; 2.3%; 0.1%; 0.5%; 9.6%; 1.7%; -0.4%; Galați 5,378,495,006 31.0%; 20.7%; 1.5%; 13.4%; 8.9%; 1.5%; 2.9%; 3.5%; 0.3%; 2.3%; 11.4%; 3.1%; -0.4%; Giurgiu 1,236,193,569 39.7%; 26.6%; 2.5%; 3.2%; 4.0%; 0.4%; 1.1%; 5.1%; 1.4%; 1.1%; 10.7%; 4.6%; -0.5%; Târgu Jiu 1,999,484,657 44.7%; 28.7%; 0.6%; 3.0%; 3.5%; 0.9%; 2.6%; 2.5%; 0.0%; 0.2%; 9.1%; 4.5%; -0.3%; Miercurea-Ciuc 1,087,554,714 38.7%; 18.1%; 0.0%; 4.5%; 8.6%; 0.7%; 8.2%; 1.9%; 0.2%; 1.2%; 18.0%; 0.0%; -0.3%; Deva 1,642,701,264 36.9%; 25.7%; 3.0%; 2.5%; 0.4%; 1.8%; 5.8%; 3.7%; 0.2%; 2.0%; 11.7%; 6.1%; -0.1%; Slobozia 1,016,121,379 45.4%; 21.4%; 2.8%; 0.1%; 3.8%; 0.0%; 3.0%; 3.2%; 0.0%; 1.1%; 16.6%; 2.8%; -0.1%; Iași 6,941,927,717 31.4%; 21.4%; 2.1%; 8.9%; 4.2%; 1.2%; 9.5%; 2.4%; 1.6%; 1.8%; 9.9%; 5.8%; -0.2%; Baia Mare 2,855,967,204 39.7%; 22.9%; 1.8%; 3.2%; 7.5%; 2.0%; 1.7%; 5.2%; 1.2%; 4.3%; 7.8%; 2.7%; -0.1%; Drobeta-Turnu 2,185,594,579 34.6%; 19.8%; 2.4%; 4.9%; 6.9%; 1.3%; 4.0%; 6.7%; 0.2%; 0.3%; 12.3%; 6.9%; -0.3%; Severin Târgu Mureș 3,678,258,264 35.0%; 29.7%; 1.6%; 7.0%; 0.3%; 1.8%; 5.9%; 2.2%; 0.3%; 4.5%; 8.4%; 3.7%; -0.2%; Piatra Neamț 2,133,686,458 35.9%; 25.1%; 6.1%; 1.3%; 0.6%; 1.0%; 6.5%; 3.0%; 0.0%; 1.5%; 14.8%; 4.9%; -0.7%; Slatina 2,038,890,142 35.9%; 26.1%; 2.6%; 1.2%; 1.2%; 0.6%; 5.9%; 3.4%; 0.0%; 0.7%; 16.4%; 6.3%; -0.3%; Ploiești 5,072,595,158 27.6%; 19.8%; 1.7%; 14.3%; 12.1%; 0.4%; 5.3%; 4.6%; 0.0%; 1.0%; 7.9%; 5.8%; -0.5%; Satu Mare 2,430,199,853 41.5%; 28.3%; 2.6%; 2.6%; 4.2%; 0.4%; 3.5%; 3.6%; 0.0%; 0.9%; 8.0%; 4.4%; -0.1%; Zalău 1,407,359,778 43.6%; 24.1%; 2.3%; 3.8%; 3.7%; 0.5%; 3.7%; 3.0%; 2.2%; 1.9%; 7.9%; 3.6%; -0.3%; Sibiu 3,626,421,103 26.2%; 22.4%; 2.1%; 7.7%; 14.6%; 0.4%; 1.8%; 2.4%; 0.1%; 0.6%; 16.4%; 5.8%; -0.6%; Suceava 2,268,476,824 39.1%; 24.5%; 2.3%; 8.1%; 0.8%; 2.0%; 5.5%; 2.0%; 0.2%; 2.8%; 9.2%; 3.8%; -0.2%; 20 Alexandria 1,031,798,833 47.5%; 20.9%; 1.7%; 3.1%; 1.6%; 2.9%; 2.8%; 1.8%; 0.0%; 1.4%; 13.1%; 3.5%; -0.3%; Timișoara 8,016,921,656 29.7%; 27.7%; 1.8%; 16.4%; 1.7%; 0.6%; 6.1%; 2.7%; 0.0%; 0.9%; 8.9%; 3.9%; -0.6%; Tulcea 1,785,338,003 35.3%; 25.7%; 0.5%; 14.1%; 2.5%; 0.6%; 4.8%; 3.1%; 0.1%; 0.6%; 11.9%; 1.1%; -0.3%; Vaslui 1,295,039,538 43.7%; 25.6%; 0.9%; 2.8%; 3.7%; 0.4%; 7.4%; 4.0%; 0.2%; 1.7%; 8.6%; 1.3%; -0.2%; Râmnicu Vâlcea 2,575,596,988 36.8%; 23.3%; 1.1%; 6.3%; 3.5%; 2.4%; 4.8%; 4.6%; 0.4%; 1.5%; 11.8%; 3.6%; -0.2%; Focșani 2,022,206,551 40.9%; 19.1%; 1.0%; 7.5%; 6.5%; 0.2%; 7.4%; 3.4%; 0.9%; 0.2%; 9.0%; 4.1%; -0.3%; 21 The table above shows how the economic model of the ratio of expenditures by headings at national level also applies to the city of Suceava. For the 2009- 2019 period, the local authorities allocated 39.1% of the total staff-related costs and 24.5% for goods and services. On the other hand, the municipality granted a total of 0.2% for projects financed from non-reimbursable external funds related to the 2014-2020 financial framework. Oradea is at the opposite end of the spectrum, with 4.5% of the total co-financing expenditure coming from European programmes. For the analyzed period, the interest represented only 2.17% at the level of the city, above the national average of 1.6%, but at a very low value, indicating a low rate of debt. Other reduced costs were for social assistance (2%), financial operations (3.27%) and other expenditure (3.44%). Table 8. Structure of the current expenditures in Suceava between 2009 and 2019 Projects financed from Payments Transfers Projects non- made in between financed from reimbursable previous Total Staff Goods and Other Social Other Capital Financial Year Interest Subsidies public non- external funds years and expenditure expenditure services transfers assistance expenditure expenditure operations administration reimbursable related to the recovered units external funds 2014-2020 in the financial current year framework 2019 250,583,886 70,917,144 77,409,109 4,583,584 20,258,905 4,352,500 10,689,841 8,548,902 8,424,404 2,341,188 12,871,117 17,814,810 13,030,148 (657,766) 2018 208,366,047 59,323,565 65,577,116 4,087,791 8,168,409 3,403,000 7,431,279 13,074,181 6,844,044 807,984 10,087,987 18,964,119 11,036,104 (439,532) 2017 271,989,969 135,724,423 57,904,505 3,250,942 24,750,087 3,867,172 4,817,801 8,485,858 6,114,753 324,726 6,068,551 12,552,556 9,390,906 (1,262,311) 2016 239,674,742 107,908,162 56,586,013 3,717,003 17,573,259 1,603,299 4,257,868 2,750,490 5,771,760 82,477 8,320,450 14,990,239 16,113,722 - 2015 262,586,914 107,604,997 58,413,558 4,095,972 15,228,876 50,000 4,463,849 39,008,117 3,667,521 - 7,844,514 13,581,703 9,075,244 (447,437) 2014 220,826,707 108,014,687 52,108,247 5,900,846 21,223,678 150,000 1,434,930 2,486,529 2,825,794 - 4,921,571 8,301,878 13,676,441 (217,894) 2013 202,494,405 84,998,659 58,094,763 7,542,109 14,614,662 100,000 153,467 7,146,701 2,505,860 - 4,492,262 16,945,363 7,040,333 (1,139,774) 2012 297,903,943 73,602,842 59,166,651 8,134,796 35,118,405 289,830 1,425,983 37,230,021 5,932,557 - 7,383,352 66,350,559 3,336,140 (67,193) 2011 214,366,058 112,598,674 47,653,963 1,155,358 - 59,795,260 - 8,255,367 - - 26,172,007 7,539,650 - 5,100 2010 208,287,421 82,826,614 45,716,525 7,039,268 15,889,740 1,844,515 13,404,724 3,162,957 5,467,014 - 644,702 30,681,067 1,748,539 (138,244) 2009 220,865,341 98,155,666 53,537,674 6,798,376 17,334,418 1,281,602 7,801,490 - 2,721,108 - 559,748 32,364,542 625,000 (314,283) TOTAL 2,597,945,433 1,041,675,433 632,168,124 56,306,045 190,160,439 76,737,178 55,881,232 130,149,123 50,274,815 3,556,375 89,366,261 240,086,486 85,072,577 (4,679,334) % 100.00%; 40.10%; 24.33%; 2.17%; 7.32%; 2.95%; 2.15%; 5.01%; 1.94%; 0.14%; 3.44%; 9.24%; 3.27%; -0.18%; 22 By chapters of expenditure, there were significant amounts for education (34%), most of which were reported by 2017. Since 2018, the legislative amendments regarding the change related to education-staff salary payments have reduced this share. The general public services had a share of 9.38% for Suceava between 2009 and 2019. The expenditure related to culture, recreation and religion had a contribution of 7.41% in the analyzed period. Another important share of the expenditure is represented by transport – 11.4% between 2009 and 2019 and by fuels and energy, with a share of 12% between 2009 and 2019. These costs fluctuate significantly from year to year. Table 9. Structure of the Suceava City by chapters, between 2009 and 2019 Defense, Services and General public order Culture, Insurance Total public Environmental Fuels and Other public and Education Healthcare recreation and social Transport expenditure development, Protection energy expenditure services national and religion assistance housing security 2019 250,583,886 30,627,503 11,421,774 38,088,374 5,691,727 32,591,866 28,350,957 22,998,237 23,234,382 29,103,237 27,700,656 775,173 2018 208,366,047 26,471,693 10,033,091 29,767,906 4,908,169 25,941,466 23,329,515 29,122,015 21,601,711 12,237,528 24,417,554 535,399 2017 271,989,969 21,672,541 8,490,080 111,875,526 3,498,891 18,593,907 19,983,373 21,439,651 15,407,180 32,666,129 18,305,207 57,484 2016 239,674,742 16,953,282 5,603,208 98,689,776 3,291,354 19,144,745 17,454,740 15,284,523 14,406,124 32,453,321 16,230,709 162,960 2015 262,586,914 15,055,474 4,565,748 113,035,722 2,067,011 16,825,144 12,773,849 14,960,066 18,060,782 23,023,195 42,195,983 23,940 2014 220,826,707 19,305,363 4,499,693 99,141,441 1,981,802 12,405,817 10,346,024 14,018,265 11,075,474 26,639,376 21,146,532 266,920 2013 202,494,405 18,216,623 3,749,736 81,211,529 1,825,089 10,305,066 10,340,444 13,023,456 15,993,819 22,862,741 24,730,422 235,480 2012 297,903,943 17,994,324 3,531,648 70,505,848 1,797,005 19,065,606 13,145,366 19,760,570 68,537,151 34,755,897 48,800,583 9,945 2011 214,366,058 16,393,545 3,453,507 71,034,726 2,860,061 13,404,340 9,036,431 25,832,490 12,062,504 39,455,516 34,379,513 5,928 2010 208,287,421 18,625,060 3,615,588 75,817,083 3,402,975 12,198,991 12,885,024 32,410,385 - 31,101,844 18,205,513 24,958 2009 220,865,341 21,016,607 4,531,961 94,212,561 1,697,608 11,929,070 11,353,251 34,710,959 - 26,710,810 13,252,886 1,449,628 TOTAL 2,597,945,433 222,332,015 63,496,034 883,380,492 33,021,692 192,406,018 168,998,974 243,560,617 200,379,127 311,009,594 289,365,558 3,547,815 % 100.00%; 8.56%; 2.44%; 34.00%; 1.27%; 7.41%; 6.51%; 9.38%; 7.71%; 11.97%; 11.14%; 0.14%; 23 The figure below shows the main expenditure headings by category at the level of Suceava, selected according to their ratio compared to the total expenditure between 2009 and 2019. As previously mentioned, this chart shows how the ratio of education costs has decreased since 2018 due to legislative changes concerning the breakdown of VAT rates for the payment of teachers' salaries. Again, there is a pattern of divergence between environmental protection costs, which have been differentiated in budget executions since 2011. It can be seen how they benefited from a special contribution in 2012, followed by a sharp decrease in the following year. Also, the fluctuation of transport infrastructure expenditure can be better observed in graphical form in the figure below, with a significant contribution in 2015. Cultural, recreational and religious services also cover an increased value in recent years, with a focus on 2019. Figure 11. The structure of the main categories by expenditure headings of Suceava City - 50,000,000 100,000,000 150,000,000 200,000,000 250,000,000 300,000,000 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 Servicii publice generale Învăţământ Cultură, recreere şi religie Asigurări şi asistenţă socială Servicii şi dezvoltare publică, locuinţe Protectia mediului Transporturi General public services Education Culture, leisure and religion Insurance and social care Public services and development, housing Environmental protection Transports Source: Romania's Urban Policy. Processing of Urban Indicators: https://citadini.ro/baza-de-date-urbane/ Staff expenditure represents 40% of the total budget expenditure at the level of Suceava City between 2009 and 2019, a share that is similar to other county seats. The value is below the average for county seats during this period - 44%. However, the share of staff-related costs is substantial, indicating that the focus is more on operations than on investment. Goods and services represent another important current cost for Suceava, representing approximately 25% of the total expenditure for the analyzed period. Projects financed from non-reimbursable external funds accounted for a total of 5% of the total expenditure. 24 Figure 12. Structure of the main current expenditures of Suceava between 2009 and 2019 Source: Romania's Urban Policy. Processing of Urban Indicators: https://citadini.ro/baza-de-date-urbane/ Legend: Staff expenditure Goods and services Interest Subsidies Transfers between public administration units Other transfers Projects funded from non-reimbursable external funds Social assistance In terms of staff-related costs, the largest share goes to cover basic salaries. This also includes food allowances, salary expenditure in kind, bonuses for working conditions or holiday vouchers. 25 Figure 13. Average staff expenditure at the level of comparative cities between 2009 and 2019 50.0% 45.0% 40.0% 35.0% 30.0% 25.0% 20.0% 15.0% 10.0% 5.0% 0.0% Cheltuieli de personal Suceava Vaslui Botoșani Piatra Neamț Târgu Mureș Satu Mare Baia Mare Râmnicu Vâlcea Staff expenditure Source: Romania's Urban Policy. Processing of Urban Indicators: https://citadini.ro/baza-de-date-urbane/ In terms of expenditure related to goods and services, the largest share is spent on "water, sewerage and sanitation", "current repairs", "heating, lighting and motive power" and "other goods and services for maintenance and operation". The expenditure related to “consultancy and expertise� was limited to approximately RON 10,000 in 2019, given that Suceava, like most of the Romanian municipalities, needs support to design the localities of the future. Figure 14. Average expenditure related to goods and services at the level of the comparative cities between 2009 and 2019 35.0% 30.0% 25.0% 20.0% 15.0% 10.0% 5.0% 0.0% Bunuri şi servicii Suceava Vaslui Botoșani Piatra Neamț Târgu Mureș Satu Mare Baia Mare Râmnicu Vâlcea Goods and services Source: Romania's Urban Policy. Processing of Urban Indicators: https://citadini.ro/baza-de-date-urbane/ Subsidies-related expenditure in large Romania cities mainly covers district heating and public transport. These are the two big chapters that need support from municipalities in order to operate efficiently. In the case of Suceava, the subsidies are used almost exclusively for the “coverage of price and fee differences� for the central heating system – Thermonet. 26 Figure 15. Average subsidies-related expenditure at the level of comparative cities between 2009 and 2019 10.0% 9.0% 8.0% 7.0% 6.0% 5.0% 4.0% 3.0% 2.0% 1.0% 0.0% Subvenţii Suceava Vaslui Botoșani Piatra Neamț Târgu Mureș Satu Mare Baia Mare Râmnicu Vâlcea Subsidies Source: Romania's Urban Policy. Processing of Urban Indicators: https://citadini.ro/baza-de-date-urbane/ Suceava is one of the municipalities that tried to keep the central heating system functional. The table below includes the situation of the district heating systems in Bucharest and the 40 county seats. As can be seen, cities such as Brașov, Baia Mare, Piatra Neamț, Brăila or Târgu Mureș have completely shut down the central heating system. Table 1. The situation of district heating systems in Bucharest and the 40 county seats Does the How many city have apartments County seat a district Notes are heating connected? system? Bucharest Yes 562,192 The Bucharest Municipality subsidizes the district heating system by approximately EUR 133 million each year. Constanța Yes 78,226 Subsidies are provided for poor households. Oradea Yes 64,370 Significant EU investments were undertaken to modernize the system. Craiova Yes 61,092 Many households have disconnected themselves from the district heating system. Timișoara Yes 60,306 Many households have disconnected themselves from the district heating system. Ploiești Yes 55,805 The district heating system is in private ownership and management. Many residents have disconnected themselves from the system due to high heating costs. Iași Yes 37,088 The district heating system is in private ownership, after a dramatic decrease of clientele. Galați Yes 36,167 The district heating system has financial difficulties. Arad Yes 31,535 The district heating system has accumulated large debts and lost many clients over time. Drobeta-Turnu Yes 29,299 The district heating system has financial difficulties. Severin Cluj-Napoca Yes 28,383 Most households have disconnected themselves from the system. 27 Does the How many city have apartments County seat a district Notes are heating connected? system? Râmnicu Vâlcea Yes 27,766 The district heating company is facing major financial difficulties. Pitești Yes 23,015 Many households have disconnected themselves from the system. Disconnection is now prohibited for people living in apartment blocks where everybody is connected to the district heating system. Suceava Yes 17,895 The old district heating company went bankrupt and was taken over by a private company. Bacău Yes 16,233 The old district heating system went bankrupt. Many residents have disconnected themselves. Buzău Yes 14,415 More than half of the households have disconnected themselves from the system (in the past, there were about 36,000 clients of the district heating system). Focșani Yes 12,604 A co-generation plant was built with EU funds. Nonetheless, the number of connected households has dropped dramatically, from a total of around 30,000. Tulcea Yes 11,324 Many households have disconnected themselves from the district heating system, and others were disconnected due to accumulated debts. Botoșani Yes 11,249 The district heating system was modernized with EU funds. Deva Yes 7,000 Most households have disconnected themselves from the system. Giurgiu Yes 4,522 Many residents have disconnected themselves from the system. Miercurea Ciuc Yes 2,845 Many residents have disconnected themselves from the system. Sibiu Yes 757 Most households have disconnected themselves from the system. Vaslui Yes 662 Many households have disconnected themselves from the district heating system, and others were disconnected due to accumulated debts. Alexandria Yes 433 Most households have disconnected themselves from the system. Călărași Yes 402 Most households have disconnected themselves from the system. Sfântu Gheorghe Yes 260 Most households have disconnected themselves from the system. Alba-Iulia No 0 The district heating system was closed down in 2011, as people switched to individual heating units Baia Mare No 0 In 2000 the district heating system lost its last customers. Bistrița No 0 The district heating system was closed down in 2006. Brăila No 0 The district heating system ceased to operate in 2013, because of accumulated debts. The Brăila Municipality offered subsidies to households for the purchase of individual heating units. Brașov No 0 District heating companies went bankrupt. Piatra Neamț No 0 The district heating system was closed down in 2014. The Municipality offered individual heating units for the renter flats. Reșița No 0 The district heating system was closed down in 2014. Satu-Mare No 0 The district heating system was closed down in 2003. Slatina No 0 The district heating system was closed down in 2001. Slobozia No 0 The district heating system was closed down in 2006. Târgoviște No 0 The district heating system was closed down in 2013. The Municipality offered individual heating units for the renter flats. Târgu Jiu No 0 The district heating system, which was developed in Communist times was never made operational. In 2006 the existent non- operational facilities were sold to scrap metal. Târgu Mureș No 0 The district heating system was closed down in 2013. Zalău No 0 The district heating system was closed down in 2014. 28 Does the How many city have apartments County seat a district Notes are heating connected? system? Source: ANRSC (the National Regulatory Authority for Community Public Utilities Services), Adevărul.ro, and individual press clippings. The transfers between public administration units mainly include "transfers to public institutions", primarily institutions under the administration of the Municipality and "transfers from the budgets of local and county councils to provide aid to territorial-administrative units in extreme difficulty". Figure 16. Average expenditure related to transfers between public administration units at the level of the comparative cities between 2009 and 2019 9.0% 8.0% 7.0% 6.0% 5.0% 4.0% 3.0% 2.0% 1.0% 0.0% Transferuri între unităţi ale administraţiei publice Suceava Vaslui Botoșani Piatra Neamț Târgu Mureș Satu Mare Baia Mare Râmnicu Vâlcea Transfers between public administration units Source: Romania's Urban Policy. Processing of Urban Indicators: https://citadini.ro/baza-de-date-urbane/ 29 INVESTMENTS In terms of attracting European funds and capital expenditure, Suceava has a moderate performance when compared to other county seats. Cities such as Oradea, Alba-Iulia, Târgoviște, Cluj-Napoca, Bistrița, Miercurea-Ciuc or Craiova have been top performers in attracting EU funds. Oradea and Alba- Iulia, for example, attracted three times more European funds per capita than Suceava, between 2009 and 2019. Regarding the capital expenditure per capita, Bucharest, Miercurea-Ciuc, Slatina, Arad, Sibiu and Sfântu Gheorghe set themselves apart, with more than double expenditure per capita capital compared to Suceava, between 2009 and 2019. At national level, Suceava ranks 31st out of 41 in terms of total capital expenditure (European funds + capital expenditure) per capita between 2009 and 2019. Table 2. Performance in terms of attracting European funds and capital expenditure - averages (in RON) for 2009-2019 for Bucharest and the 40 county seats Locality Population European funds Capital EU funds per Capital Total expenditure capita expenditure Capital per capita Expenditure per Capita Oradea 221,567 848,039,188 579,903,479 RON 3,827 RON 2,617 RON 6,445 Alba-Iulia 74,730 250,285,800 149,451,695 RON 3,349 RON 2,000 RON 5,349 Târgoviște 92,004 274,244,515 156,430,468 RON 2,981 RON 1,700 RON 4,681 Cluj-Napoca 325,179 851,749,342 653,044,923 RON 2,619 RON 2,008 RON 4,628 Bistrița 94,275 233,016,294 184,551,677 RON 2,472 RON 1,958 RON 4,429 Miercurea-Ciuc 41,621 91,347,356 196,021,638 RON 2,195 RON 4,710 RON 6,904 Craiova 301,687 610,470,489 575,139,049 RON 2,024 RON 1,906 RON 3,930 Iași 381,118 770,415,287 689,702,706 RON 2,021 RON 1,810 RON 3,831 Focșani 92,318 167,665,946 182,635,037 RON 1,816 RON 1,978 RON 3,795 Bacău 197,736 358,306,659 357,849,562 RON 1,812 RON 1,810 RON 3,622 Târgu Mureș 147,770 227,252,117 308,465,218 RON 1,538 RON 2,087 RON 3,625 Timișoara 328,480 490,892,476 714,802,164 RON 1,494 RON 2,176 RON 3,671 Slatina 83,008 120,875,267 333,857,660 RON 1,456 RON 4,022 RON 5,478 Deva 69,231 100,040,915 192,728,681 RON 1,445 RON 2,784 RON 4,229 Brăila 202,924 291,625,183 322,789,128 RON 1,437 RON 1,591 RON 3,028 Brașov 289,683 409,546,618 776,525,683 RON 1,414 RON 2,681 RON 4,094 Sfântu Gheorghe 64,101 84,094,981 221,136,020 RON 1,312 RON 3,450 RON 4,762 Piatra Neamț 112,929 138,844,787 316,452,755 RON 1,229 RON 2,802 RON 4,032 Zalău 69,464 83,248,219 111,432,126 RON 1,198 RON 1,604 RON 2,803 Ploiești 227,614 269,006,109 399,054,625 RON 1,182 RON 1,753 RON 2,935 Râmnicu Vâlcea 117,891 134,312,952 303,654,203 RON 1,139 RON 2,576 RON 3,715 Arad 177,006 199,222,798 658,327,933 RON 1,126 RON 3,719 RON 4,845 Suceava 125,021 127,301,993 208,382,791 RON 1,018 RON 1,667 RON 2,685 Pitești 174,076 176,845,514 458,709,512 RON 1,016 RON 2,635 RON 3,651 Tulcea 86,561 87,746,568 211,579,395 RON 1,014 RON 2,444 RON 3,458 Botoșani 120,341 104,580,338 269,854,506 RON 869 RON 2,242 RON 3,111 Drobeta-Turnu 106,835 91,566,851 268,760,853 RON 857 RON 2,516 RON 3,373 Severin Vaslui 121,946 99,533,158 111,987,616 RON 816 RON 918 RON 1,735 Satu Mare 119,896 86,464,074 194,813,834 RON 721 RON 1,625 RON 2,346 Slobozia 51,901 30,535,286 168,542,590 RON 588 RON 3,247 RON 3,836 Alexandria 50,296 29,088,508 134,661,273 RON 578 RON 2,677 RON 3,256 30 Locality Population European funds Capital EU funds per Capital Total expenditure capita expenditure Capital per capita Expenditure per Capita Baia Mare 145,636 83,050,419 223,846,548 RON 570 RON 1,537 RON 2,107 Galați 304,873 171,928,130 611,142,173 RON 564 RON 2,005 RON 2,569 Târgu Jiu 95,429 52,406,302 182,408,743 RON 549 RON 1,911 RON 2,461 Giurgiu 67,190 30,860,290 132,252,004 RON 459 RON 1,968 RON 2,428 Sibiu 168,792 70,782,051 594,330,044 RON 419 RON 3,521 RON 3,940 Constanța 313,156 121,423,088 719,224,983 RON 388 RON 2,297 RON 2,684 Buzău 132,409 47,352,237 151,999,243 RON 358 RON 1,148 RON 1,506 BUCHAREST 2,133,941 757,103,914 15,219,054,836 RON 355 RON 7,132 RON 7,487 Reșița 85,565 28,953,572 167,274,037 RON 338 RON 1,955 RON 2,293 Călărași 76,012 16,837,523 145,127,115 RON 222 RON 1,909 RON 2,131 Source: Romania's Urban Policy. Processing of Urban Indicators: https://citadini.ro/baza-de-date-urbane/ At first glance, this data could suggest that Suceava should find ways to allocate more resources for capital investments. Obviously, however, the resources for capital investments depend very much on the revenues that can be generated by a certain local administration. A locality with a dynamic private sector will generate higher revenues through income tax than a locality with a more limited private sector. Also, even if European funds involve, for the most part, free resources that can be accessed for the modernization of the public infrastructure, many of these investments subsequently involve significant operating and maintenance costs. As such, these investments must be weighed carefully. If we look at the actual capital expenditure between 2007 and 2015 (the implementation period for the first European financial cycle) and compare it with an estimate of the World Bank in terms of "prudent" allocations for capital expenditure (more precisely allocations which would later allow the coverage of the operation and maintenance costs), we see that Suceava has spent more than it could afford. In fact, actual spending is close to what the World Bank has estimated to be prudent allocations. This indicates a prudent management at the level of the Suceava Municipality. Table 3. Comparison of the potential in terms of capital expenditure and actual expenditure in the 2007-2015 period Estimated budget for possible The difference between the estimated Total capital expenditure for 2007-2015 capital investments in the 2007- capital investment budget and the 2015 period actual expenditure Core City Outer FUA Core City Outer FUA Core City Outer FUA Alba Iulia € 76,075,784 € 87,333,146 € 44,613,708 € 21,510,979 -€ 31,462,076 -€65,822,166 Alexandria € 30,309,011 € 12,560,301 € 32,353,936 € 8,962,039 € 2,044,925 -€3,598,262 Arad € 158,781,973 € 122,564,087 € 158,447,796 € 72,012,598 -€334,176 -€50,551,489 Bacău € 175,800,881 € 72,363,476 € 123,030,465 € 29,991,512 -€52,770,416 -€42,371,964 Baia Mare € 69,060,342 € 89,936,249 € 84,890,478 € 36,875,176 € 15,830,137 -€53,061,072 Bistrița € 65,748,653 € 68,697,343 € 56,550,961 € 22,085,254 -€9,197,691 -€46,612,089 Botoșani € 80,607,779 € 16,114,190 € 65,471,916 € 10,030,780 -€15,135,863 -€6,083,410 Brăila € 126,461,532 € 18,031,611 € 100,830,014 € 11,121,835 -€25,631,519 -€6,909,777 Brașov € 229,803,444 € 243,839,940 € 217,024,267 € 168,919,039 -€12,779,177 -€74,920,900 Bucharest € 3,187,153,672 € 965,586,113 € 3,937,260,251 € 618,507,313 € 750,106,578 -€347,078,800 Buzău € 34,402,089 € 80,540,418 € 91,869,624 € 41,914,135 € 57,467,535 -€38,626,283 Călărași € 37,942,646 € 32,631,742 € 40,983,274 € 13,618,690 € 3,040,628 -€19,013,052 Cluj-Napoca € 226,113,081 € 201,295,514 € 295,430,059 € 89,339,668 € 69,316,977 -€111,955,846 Constanța € 148,227,667 € 282,051,420 € 254,563,477 € 184,250,002 € 106,335,810 -€97,801,419 Craiova € 254,327,934 € 109,194,456 € 186,760,204 € 50,424,759 -€67,567,729 -€58,769,696 31 Estimated budget for possible The difference between the estimated Total capital expenditure for 2007-2015 capital investments in the 2007- capital investment budget and the 2015 period actual expenditure Core City Outer FUA Core City Outer FUA Core City Outer FUA Deva € 76,524,688 € 90,278,240 € 53,617,150 € 55,920,249 -€22,907,538 -€34,357,991 Drobeta-Turnu Severin € 81,878,817 € 29,035,901 € 58,374,980 € 12,091,819 -€23,503,837 -€16,944,082 Focșani € 66,511,963 € 57,488,886 € 45,222,184 € 34,664,724 -€21,289,779 -€22,824,163 Galați € 192,779,838 € 85,240,754 € 180,953,623 € 36,806,500 -€11,826,215 -€48,434,254 Giurgiu € 53,261,359 € 11,879,481 € 44,191,718 € 6,151,316 -€9,069,641 -€5,728,165 Iași € 268,681,281 € 91,164,891 € 206,752,399 € 43,319,179 -€61,928,882 -€47,845,712 Miercurea Ciuc € 64,016,132 € 56,932,114 € 34,081,210 € 23,702,018 -€29,934,923 -€33,230,096 Oradea € 225,381,432 € 143,747,499 € 158,912,517 € 65,051,818 -€66,468,915 -€78,695,681 Piatra Neamț € 121,103,798 € 48,687,686 € 68,810,141 € 24,100,594 -€52,293,657 -€24,587,092 Pitești € 124,431,256 € 235,579,423 € 109,946,157 € 122,904,901 -€14,485,099 -€112,674,523 Ploiești € 143,505,916 € 219,246,548 € 183,111,503 € 137,323,918 € 39,605,587 -€81,922,630 Râmnicu Vâlcea € 79,122,201 € 173,063,532 € 81,968,869 € 61,744,707 € 2,846,668 -€111,318,825 Reșița € 39,468,502 € 13,594,653 € 47,223,671 € 3,454,131 € 7,755,170 -€10,140,521 Satu Mare € 48,923,919 € 76,729,744 € 73,770,950 € 36,248,821 € 24,847,031 -€40,480,923 Sfântu Gheorghe € 62,782,058 € 35,149,886 € 37,014,559 € 12,071,365 -€25,767,499 -€23,078,521 Sibiu € 141,211,535 € 159,150,802 € 147,906,959 € 80,644,035 € 6,695,424 -€78,506,767 Slatina € 89,748,334 € 45,220,815 € 65,978,954 € 21,583,794 -€23,769,380 -€23,637,020 Slobozia € 48,252,705 € 29,830,965 € 33,813,183 € 14,707,493 -€14,439,521 -€15,123,471 Suceava € 70,401,745 € 55,396,618 € 53,410,610 € 28,636,949 -€16,991,135 -€26,759,669 Târgoviște € 89,966,856 € 94,968,946 € 66,726,412 € 38,991,196 -€23,240,443 -€55,977,750 Târgu Jiu € 44,523,802 € 50,923,786 € 57,673,169 € 24,840,290 € 13,149,367 -€26,083,497 Târgu Mureș € 109,452,323 € 94,638,548 € 100,334,998 € 47,823,785 -€9,117,325 -€46,814,763 Timișoara € 221,583,097 € 230,122,967 € 262,175,517 € 144,377,826 € 40,592,420 -€85,745,141 Tulcea € 60,389,123 € 21,777,092 € 56,969,874 € 10,095,726 -€3,419,248 -€11,681,366 Vaslui € 51,882,722 € 25,042,512 € 34,206,268 € 9,216,964 -€17,676,454 -€15,825,548 Zalău € 25,490,012 € 52,471,920 € 40,396,915 € 15,277,552 € 14,906,903 -€37,194,368 Source: Ministry of Development, Public Works and Administration and the World Bank In the Urban Policy, estimates were made regarding a prudent capital investment budget for the 2021- 2030 Implementation Period for all urban areas in Romania. The figure below shows the estimated capital investment budget for the city of Suceava and for the other localities in the metropolitan area and in the functional urban area. Thus, it was estimated that for the 2021-2030 period, Suceava should allocate about EUR 132 million for capital investments, and the localities that are part of the metropolitan area could allocate about EUR 76 million - with variations, from an estimated budget of approximately EUR 13 million for Dumbrăveni or EUR 12 million for Șcheia, at a budget of less than EUR 2 million for Siminicea or Bălăceana. Obviously, it is possible to incur costs above t his amount, especially if European funds are attracted, but it is important to take into account operating and maintenance costs. For example, a new park will have to be maintained periodically, while a parking lot can bring revenue to the municipality. Such investments also involve social and environmental considerations (a park has greater benefits for citizens than a parking lot), but these considerations must be used in preparing a priority list of investments for 2021-2030, within the estimated capital investment budget. Specifically, the Suceava Municipality should prepare a list of priority projects with an approximate value of EUR 132 million, and for any project added over this amount the source of funding must be taken into consideration (with a preference for projects financed through European funds), as well as the operating and maintenance costs (with a preference for revenue-generating projects or projects with low operating and maintenance costs). 32 Figure 17. Comparison of capital investment budgets for the Suceava Functional Urban Area between 2021 and 2030 € 54,037,322.27 € 131,751,911.25 € 76,131,023.95 Municipiul Suceava Zona Metropolitană Zona Urbană Funcțională City of Suceava Metropolitan Area Functional Urban Area In terms of capacity to undertake capital investments, Suceava City has greater opportunities than other localities in the metropolitan area, because it has a stronger economic base. Of course, here too there are variations, with Dumbrăveni (where there are several large companies, such as Alsim or Amarawood) with the potential to assume capital expenditure of approximately EUR 1,472 per capita between 2021 and 2030, compared to EUR 1,235 in Suceava. Figure 18. Comparison of capital investment budgets per capita at the cities between 2021 and 2030 € 837.19 € 740.13 € 1,235.00 1 Zona Urbană Funcțională € 837.19 Zona Metropolitană € 740.13 Municipiul Suceava € 1,235.00 Functional Urban Area Metropolitan Area City of Suceava The capacity of Suceava City to undertake capital expenditure between 2021 and 2030 is high, if we compare Suceava to similar cities in the country (see the figure below). Thus, only Târgu Mureș has a 33 higher capacity, Suceava taking the leading position even over cities with a much better geographical position, such as Satu Mare or Baia Mare. Figure 19. Comparison of capital investment budgets per capita at the level of comparative cities between 2021 and 2030 € 1,236.49 € 1,108.48 € 1,194.56 € 1,484.08 € 995.18 € 973.32 € 826.52 € 857.60 € 1,235.00 1 RÂMNICU VÂLCEA € 1,236.49 BAIA MARE € 1,108.48 SATU MARE € 1,194.56 TÂRGU MUREȘ € 1,484.08 TÂRGU NEAMȚ € 995.18 PIATRA NEAMȚ € 973.32 BOTOȘANI € 826.52 VASLUI € 857.60 SUCEAVA € 1,235.00 34 HUMAN AND MATERIAL RESOURCES Human Resources According to the Regulation on the Organization and Functioning of the specialized body of the Mayor of Suceava14, the mayor, deputy mayors and the secretary of the city together with the specialized body of the mayor of Suceava constitute the Suceava Municipality. In accordance with the law, on the mayor’s proposal, the Local Council approves the organizational chart, the list of positions, the number of staff members and the regulations for the organization and functioning of the mayor's specialized body. According to the organizational chart of Suceava Municipality, it has a total of 858 positions in which: • 3 Dignitaries • 402 public positions of which 45 are management positions and 357 - executive positions • 453 contractual positions, of which 25 are management and 428 - executive positions. Most positions are allocated to the local Police (129), the Markets Administration Directorate (116), the Budget, Accounting and Taxation Directorate (107) and the Social Assistance Directorate (106). On the other hand, the smallest number of positions are dedicated to the Technical and Investment Directorate (35), the Directorate for European Projects, Tourism, Culture and Transport (25), the Municipal Personal Records Directorate (30), the Directorate for Urban Planning, Spatial Planning and Cadaster (27), the Directorate for Greening (26), and the Heritage Directorate (21). The Mayor The mayor of Suceava is the head of the local public administration and of his/her own specialized body that he/she leads and controls. He/she exercises the duties stipulated in Law no. 215/2001 on the local public administration, with the subsequent amendments and supplements. Also, he/she has other duties stipulated by laws or other normative acts, as well as the tasks given by the Local Council of Suceava15. The Mayor's Office The Mayor's Office is composed of the following departments: The General Directorate for Technical Issues and Investments (General Director) • The Service for Civil Protection, Emergencies, Occupational Safety and Health • The Investment Service (Head of Service) • The Street and Road Administration Service (Head of service) • The Energy and Public Utilities Office (Head of Office) o The Municipal monitoring unit • The Internal Public Audit Office • The Human resources service • The Heritage Department o The Heritage Service ▪ The Public Procurement Department o The Office for building stock records and administration ▪ The "Modern" Cinema Department The Budget, Accounting and Taxation Directorate • The Service for budget and non-reimbursable financing from public funds • The Financial and Accounting Service 14 Regulation on the Organization and Functioning of the specialized body of the mayor of Suceava. Link. 15 Ibid. 35 • The Follow-up and Enforcement Service • The Fines Service • The Automatic data processing service • The Education financing and direct receipts Service • The Individuals Tax Service • The Legal Entities Tax Service The Suceava Local Police • The Public Order and Security Service no. 1 o The Guard formation • The Public Order and Security Service no. 2 • The Office for discipline in construction and street display • The Environmental Protection Office • The Commercial Activity Control Office • The Public Road Traffic Service • The Video Surveillance and Dispatcher Service • The Service for Personal Records, Training and Administrative Issues Activity reports The latest activity reports are from 200716. The Deputy Mayor (I) The mayor may delegate his duties to deputy mayors. In accordance with the law, the deputy mayors report to the mayor and are his/her legal substitutes.17. The First Deputy Mayor's Office According to Suceava Municipality, the following directorates and services report to the first deputy mayor. • The Greening Directorate • The Service for Greening and Management of Stray Dogs • The Owners’ associations service • The Directorate for Markets Administration o The Department for the control of foodstuffs of animal origin and hygiene o The Department for revenue tracking and control o The Office for Self-taxing Parking o The Wholesale Agricultural Market Department o The Burdujeni Agricultural Market Office o The G. Enescu Agricultural Market Office o The Central and Ițcani Agricultural Markets Office o The "Bazar" Shopping Complex Office o The Investment, repair and administrative service ▪ The Technical Department • The Directorate for European Projects, Tourism, Culture and Transport o The Service for European Projects and Development Strategies o The Service for Tourism and Culture o The Service for the Local Transport Authorization Authority 16 Suceava Municipality. The mayor’s activity reports. Link. 17 The regulation on the organization and functioning of the specialized body of the mayor of Suceava. Link. 36 The second Deputy Mayor The mayor may delegate his duties to deputy mayors. In accordance with the law, the deputy mayors report to the mayor and are his/her legal substitutes18. The second Deputy Mayor's Office • The General Directorate of the Public Domain o The Administrative Service o The GDPD headquarters administration Department ▪ The Department for the Administration of the Cultural Center of Suceava - Modern Cinema o The Service for the Administration of the Sports Facilities and Recreation Areas ▪ The Department for the Administration of the Sports Facilities and artificial ice rink ▪ The Department for the Administration of the Areni Stadium sports facility ▪ The Tătărași Recreation Area Administration Department ▪ The Cemetery Administration Service ▪ The "Pacea Cemetery" administration department ▪ “The Pacea Cemetery Extension� Administration Department o The service provision Service ▪ The discharge and sanitation department ▪ Department of constructions and artesian wells ▪ The Repair and maintenance workshop department o The Car park service o The Green space service ▪ The greenhouse department ▪ The green spaces department • The Directorate for urban planning, land use planning and cadaster o The Service for urban planning and land use planning o The Service for the authorization of commercial activities o The Service for Cadaster, agricultural real estate and agricultural register ▪ The Tax establishment and regularization department • The Department for Urban strategies and urban planning documentation management The Secretary General The General Secretary of Suceava City is a leading civil servant, with higher legal education. The attributions of the secretary of the city are those provided by the Law no. 215/2001 on the local public administration, with subsequent amendments and supplements.19 According to Suceava Municipality, the Secretary General has the following departments under his/her command: • The Service for administrative documents, public relations, circulation and storage of documents • The Municipal Directorate for Personal Records o The Civil status service • The Personal Records service (the Social Assistance Directorate) o The Guardianship authority service o The service for Social programs, health and education ▪ The General School Medicine Department 18 The regulation on the organization and functioning of the specialized body of the mayor of Suceava. Link. 19 The regulation on the organization and functioning of the specialized body of the mayor of Suceava. Link. 37 ▪ The Dental School Medicine Department o The Social Protection Service o The Public Relations and Administrative Office ▪ The Social Benefits Service ▪ The Social Assistance Soup Kitchen • The Directorate for Administrative Disputes, Legal and Administrative Issues o The Service for Administrative Disputes and Legal Issues o The Administrative Service Material resources Local Budget Budget information and budget allocations are detailed in the Chapter Local Budgets. Information about the local budget is also published on the Municipality website in the section Public information, Local budget20. Financial sources/Accounting statements. The latest report is "The Financial Statement for the third quarter of 202021". Other important information available regarding the budget allocated for 2020 is “The investment objectives program on 07.08.2020�22, “The List of investments for the city of Suceava, 27.05.2020�23 and the “Draft general budget of Suceava City for the fiscal year 2020�24. Participatory budgeting The Suceava Municipality has a platform dedicated to participatory budgeting25 since 2018. The citizens are thus encouraged to get involved in the decision-making process regarding the investments priorities of local interest, financed from the local budget. For the year 2020, there are three projects for which the citizens have to vote: 1. Project for the rehabilitation of sidewalks and streets and the laying out of parking lots26 2. Project for the rehabilitation of Victoria Street and public lighting27 3. Project for the asphalting of Păcii Street in Burdujeni neighborhood28 In 2019, 40 projects were submitted to public voting, and in 2018, 28 projects were voted. Projects financed through European funds According to Suceava Municipality, it has implemented a number of projects through European funding. The Operational Programmes accessed are: • The European Regional Development Fund under the URBACT II Interregional Cooperation Programme • The 2007-2013 Regional Operational Programme • The 2014-2020 Regional Operational Programme • The 2014 - 2020 Operational Programme "Administrative Capacity� • Horizon 2020 20 Suceava Municipality. 2020. "Local budget". Link. 21 Suceava Municipality. 2020. "The Financial statement for the third quarter of 2020.� Link. 22 Suceava Municipality. 2020. “The investment objectives program on 07.08.2020� Link. 23 Suceava Municipality. 2020. “List of investments for Suceava City, 27.05.2020� Link. 24 Suceava Municipality. 2020. “The Draft general budget of Suceava City for the fiscal year 2020� Link. 25 Suceava Municipality. Participatory budgeting. Link. 26 Suceava Municipality. Participatory budgeting. Project for the rehabilitation of sidewalks and streets and the laying out of parking lots Link. 27 Suceava Municipality. Participatory budgeting. Project for the rehabilitation of Victoria Street and public lighting. Link. 28 Suceava Municipality. Participatory budgeting. Project for the asphalting of Păcii Street in Burdujeni neighborho od Link. 38 The European Regional Development Fund under the URBACT II Interregional Cooperation Programme The project implemented through this fund is entitled "Sustainable urban markets�29. Through this project, Suceava Municipality had the general objective of demonstrating the feasibility of sustainably designed urban markets and boosting the business of producers of goods under the “Produced in Bucovina� trademark, starting from the belief that urban markets are a driving force for local development and urban regeneration and create an economic, social, tourist, cultural, as well as urban planning impact and potential. The budget for phase I of the project, belonging to the Romanian partner, was EUR 5,437.50, of which the amount of EUR 4,350 (80%) was co-financed by the European Union from the Regional Development Fund, EUR 706.87 (13%) represented the co-financing from the state budget and the local budget contribution was 7%. There is no information about the budget allocated in the second phase of the project. The 2007-2013 Regional Operational Programme Through this programme, the following projects were implemented: • Modernization of public lighting on the main road of Suceava City30 • Increasing security and preventing crime in Suceava City by purchasing specific equipment and setting up a surveillance center 31 • Rehabilitation of streets, bridge and passage; Modernization of parks; Building modular public transport stations in Suceava32 • Rehabilitation of the central area of Suceava City by creating underground car parks; Pedestrian and street rehabilitation33 • Center for the support of Bucovina traditions34 The 2014-2020 Regional Operational Programme Through this program, the following projects have been implemented: • Increasing the energy efficiency of the Suceava City Hall building (SMIS Code 120165)35 • The "Arta" – Ițcani36 Multifunctional Center • Building of a Kindergarten in the Burdujeni Sat neighborhood in Suceava37 • An integrated system for clean public transport in Suceava (SMIS code 127335)38 • Educational facility for preschoolers in the central area of Suceava (SMIS 126613)39 • Acquisition of public transport means - 12 m electric buses uphill, Brașov, Iași, Sibiu, Slatina, Suceava40 • Revitalization of the urban public space in Suceava City (SMIS Code 129478)41 29 “Sustainable urban markets� project. Link. 30 Project for the Modernization of public lighting on the main artery of Suceava City. Link. 31 Project to increase safety and prevent criminality in Suceava by purchasing specific equipment and setting up a surveillance centerLink. 32 Project for the rehabilitation of streets, bridge and passage; Modernization of parks; Building modular public transport stations in Suceava Link. 33 Project for the Rehabilitation of the central area of Suceava City by creating underground car parks; Pedestrian and street rehabilitation Link. 34 Project for the Center for the support of Bucovina Traditions. Link. 35 Project for Increasing the energy efficiency of the Suceava City Hall building. Link. 36 The "Arta" – Ițcani Multifunctional Center Link. 37 Project for the building of a Kindergarten in the Burdujeni Sat neighborhood in Suceava 37. Link. 38 Project for an integrated system for clean public transport in Suceava. Link. 39 Project for an Educational facility for preschoolers in the central area of Suceava. Link. 40 Project for the Acquisition of public transport means - 12 m electric buses uphill, Brașov, Iași, Sibiu, Slatina, Suceava Link. 41 Project for the Revitalization of the urban public space in Suceava City Link. 39 • Rehabilitation and equipping of the educational infrastructure of the “Petru Mușat� Technical College42 The Administrative Capacity Operational Programme Through this fund the following project is being implemented: • A Computerized, Quality and Accessible Local Public Administration in Suceava (APLICAT) (SIPOCA Code 626)43 Horizon 2020 Suceava was a partner in the project "Smart development for European Cities 2014 - 2020" implemented between 2015 and 2019 and financed from European non-reimbursable funds under the Horizon 2020 program. The project introduces 12 smart solutions to meet the three different aspects of sustainability: economic, social and environmental. In addition to the main objective of transferring experience and good practices, the 3 secondary objectives of the project are: 1) to improve the quality of life for European citizens, 2) to reduce the environmental impact of economic activities and 3) to creates sustainable economic development. Partners: The City of Suceava together with Graz (Austria), Porto (Portugal), Cork (Ireland), Valletta (Malta) will be disciple partners in the project and will learn from the examples of good practices of the leading cities. The leading cities are: Stockholm (Sweden), Barcelona (Spain ) and Cologne (Germany). The partnership also includes private company partners from countries such as: Hungary, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Spain, Belgium, Denmark and France which will implement 12 Smart Energy Efficiency Solutions. The city of Suceava will adhere to the experience of the leading cities through 8 smart solutions, namely: • Smart solution no. 1. Efficiency and smart climate for building rehabilitation • Smart solution no. 3. Information and solutions for energy recovery and reuse • Smart solution no. 4. Smart local energy production solutions • Smart solution no. 5. Smart public lighting systems • Smart solution no. 7. Selective waste collection, waste transformation into • electricity • Smart solution no. 10. Smart traffic management • Smart solution no. 11. Vehicles powered by alternative fuels for better • air quality • Smart solution no. 12. Smart solutions for mobility The total budget of the project is EUR 32,521,771, of which the contribution of the European Union is EUR 24,999,450. Under this project, Suceava City will benefit from a non-reimbursable amount of EUR 53,325, 100% financed by the European Union. Other funds Other sources of external financing consisted of: 42 Project for the Rehabilitation and equipping of the educational infrastructure of the “Petru Mușat� Technical College Link. 43 Project for a Computerized, Quality and Accessible Local Public Administration in Suceava Link. 40 • The Swiss-Romanian cooperation program44 through which projects have been implemented targeting, for example, “The Modern and efficient management of public lighting�45 or “Electromobility - Electric vehicles for a green municipality�46. DIGITAL PUBLIC SERVICES AND THE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CITIZENS Romania's digital performances at the level of the European Union Figure 20. 2020 Ranking of the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) Source: DESI Legend: 1 Connectivity 2 Human capital 3 Use of internet services 4 Integration of digital technology 5 Public Digital Services On June 11th, 2020, the European Commission published the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) for 2020, which monitors digital performance in Europe and tracks the progress made by EU countries in digital competitiveness. In the report, Romania ranks 26th out of 28 EU member states. The report was written in 2019, when the UK was still part of the EU bloc, so it is included in the report, along with the other European Member States (EU27). 44 Suceava Municipality. The Swiss-Romanian cooperation program. Link. 45 Suceava Municipality. 2017. The Swiss-Romanian cooperation program. "Modern and efficient management of public lighting ". Link. 46 Suceava Municipality. 2017. The Swiss-Romanian cooperation program. "Electromobility - Electric vehicles for a green municipality". Link. 41 Figure 23. DESI 2020 Figure 21. DESI 2020 Legend: Public digital services Highest scoring country Romania EU-28 Lowest scoring country DESI 1 Connectivity 2 Human capital 3 Use of internet services 4 Integration of digital technology 5 Public digital services Key points taken from the DESI 202047: � 49% of households in Romania are subscribed to very high speed broadband services. Thus, Romania ranks 5th in the EU, from the perspective of the Connectivity indicator. This is due to the high usage of very high speed broadband and the wide availability of very high capacity fixed networks, especially in the urban areas. � One fifth of Romanians have never used the Internet. � Less than a third of Romanians have at least basic digital skills. � 5.6% of Romanian graduates are ICT graduates, while the European average is 3.6%. � When it comes to digital public services and the use of internet services, Romania's performance is the lowest among EU member states. � 82% of internet users in Romania (EU average: 67%) use e-government services, Romania ranking 8th out of 28 in this category. However, the online interaction between the public authorities and the population only involves the submission of online forms. � Due to the pre-filled forms and the completely online public services, Romania ranks 28th, which indicates a problem regarding the quality and the capacity to use the services provided. � There has been no improvement in digital public services for enterprises, Romania ranking last in this regard as well. Figure 22. DESI Ranking for 2018 - 2020 Source: DESI 47 Source: The European Commission: https://ec.europa.eu/romania/news/20200611_raport_rezilienta_digitala_ro 42 The DESI 2020 index concluded that the main challenges in the provision of digital public services in Romania are: (i) the non-coordination between public institutions with regard to the establishment of such services; (ii) the migration of public sector IT specialists to the private sector or to other countries; and (iii) the general lack of digital skills�. Figure 23. Romania's performances Source: DESI Romania EU DESI 2018 DESI 2019 DESI 2020 DESI 2021 value value value value 5a1 Users of e-government solutions % of internet users who need to submit forms 5a2 Pre-filled forms Score (0-100) 5a3 Exclusively online services Score (0-100) 5a4 Public digital services for businesses Score (0-100) – at national and transnational level 5a5 Open data Not applicable Not applicable % out of the maximum score The European Commission's recommendation to improve the interaction between businesses and public authorities was the need to implement a fair and well-developed e-government solution that provides faster and lower-cost services. At the same time, another suggestion for Romania to take a first step towards a better digital public administration is the adoption of the Law on interoperability and its implementation by all public bodies involved. In conclusion, the indicators analyzed in the DESI 2020 index position Romania in the unexploited eGov scenario, which means, according to the report, that it is a country that is still in a process of digitization, but with citizens using e-government services. The biggest problem is observed in back- office and front-office digitization, where it has the lowest level (43%); however, the e-government services offered reach an above average value. Although performance levels have increased, following European trends, the Romanian environment seems to be able to reduce the strength of e- government actions. The report argues that the examination of the relative indicators, the openness of data and information and the development of broadband and its quality are almost in line with the European average, but all other features (digital skills, ICT use, digital quality in the private sector) are underdeveloped. Moreover, the data suggests that users in Romania should improve their digital skills and increase the regular use of the Internet. 43 Digitization actions at national level There is a growing interest in e-government, both centrally and locally. The increasing level of interest influences the development of the institutional and non-institutional framework of social dialogue and public consultation, as well as the infrastructure of the public services for citizens. As a result, various initiatives and specific projects have been launched, in order to implement e-government uniformly and at high standards in all localities in the country. In terms of central-level measures, in 2015, Romania adopted the 2020 National Strategy on the Digital Agenda for Romania, which defines four areas of action, and recently two government decisions have been adopted, impacting the electronic communications sector and the digitization: Government Decision no. 89/2020 of January 28, 2020, stipulating the organization and functioning of a new body, the Authority for the Digitization of Romania and Government Decision no. 90/2020 of 28 January 2020, which dissolves the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Communications and Information Society and creates a new entity, the Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure and Communications. In order to increase the transparency of the governance act at central and local level, the General Secretariat of the Government, as beneficiary, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs, as partner, have implemented the project: “Transparent, open and participatory governance – standardization, harmonization, enhanced dialogue – SIPOCA code 35, with national application48. Figure 24. Model for structuring the information published ex officio on the web page of a public institution Source: The General Secretariat Section Section Section About the Institution/About Information of public interest Decision-making transparency us/Ministry/Presentation Legislation Information request. Legislation Draft laws under public consultation (Organisation and functioning of Form for collecting proposals/opinions/recommendations the institution) (under Law no. 52/2003) 48 The General Secretariat: https://sgg.gov.ro/new/guvernare-transparenta-deschisa-si-participativa- standardizare-armonizare-dialog-imbunatatit-cod-sipoca-35/ 44 Register for the registration and analysis of proposals/opinions/recommendations Management Name and surname of the Law no. 544/2001 Public debates officer Draft laws for which suggestions are no longer admissible Request form according to Law no. 544/2001 Draft laws adopted Public hearings/Announcements/Minutes Law no. 52/2003 implementation reports Name and surname of the civil society relationship officer Register of associations, foundations and federations registered by the institution List of managers and their work Appeal method and the forms for Section agenda administrative complaints (refuse and failure Contact to reply within the statutory deadline) Single Register for Interest List of public interest documents and list of 1. Contact data of the authority: name, headquarters, Transparency documents drafted/managed by the phone/fax numbers, email addresses (+contact form), institution webpage, social media 2. Press/mass-media relations: responsible, contact data 3. Institution work hours 4. Appointment schedule, mentioning how to schedule an appointment and the contact data for the registration 5. Petitions: email address to send petitions Organisation Law no. 544/2001 implementation reports Replies given under Law no. 544/2001 Regulation on the Organization Newsletter (Law no. 544/2001) and Functioning Budget from all revenues sources Budget by financial sources (since 2015) Statement of payments (budget execution) The situation of the salary rights established according to the law, as well as other rights established by normative acts Annual statement of non-reimbursable funding for individuals or non-profit entities Organisational chart Balance sheet Public procurement Annual public procurement schedule Summary of public procurement items over EUR 5000 Puclic procuremet contracts over EUR 5000 List and contact data of the Standard forms (mentioning the average institutions subordinated time needed to fill them in) to/coordinated by or under the Asset and interest declarations authority of the institution Career (vacancy notices) Programs and strategies Reports and studies 45 Participatory governance and accountability: concrete measures proposed by the General Secretariat Proactive consultation of the civil Improving decision-making practices Organizing regular meetings between society on their issues of interest in the Local Council (Guide published councilors and citizens. before the debates in the Local by the Ministry of Public Consultation Council. and Social Dialogue)49 Creating a system to take over the Creating a City Report application, Implementing a digital system that citizens’ suggestions/votes related to through which citizens can signal gathers real-time feedback from priority topics for the town/city problems related to public services citizens on the quality of services. and utilities in real time. Organizing programming marathons, Computerizing the local public The annual communication, together where published open data can be administration and providing citizens with the locality budget, of an easy- reused in useful applications for with electronic services (including to-understand narrative form of the citizens. enrolment in such national programs). public budget – A citizens' budget. Writing reports that are easy for Organizing at least 1 public debate to Implementing the concept of citizens to understand and presenting present the draft budget, together Participatory Budgeting. them at public meetings. with the Citizens' Budget. The authority that standardizes and unifies the digitization of the public administration in Romania In 2020, the Romanian Government created the Romanian Digitization Authority (ADR), in order to achieve the objectives of digital transformation of the Romanian society. As a result, ADR encourages public institutions, and also those in the private sector, to provide fast, secure and efficient services through technologies. Platforms developed so far by the ADR: � Ghișeul.ro: online payment of local taxes and fines, registration of documents addressed to public institutions which do not have their own online registry system. � Electronic Transport Assignment Information System: the electronic allocation of authorizations for international freight transport and the electronic allocation of journeys and routes for domestic passenger transport. � The National Electronic System: the online submission of the "Statement of obligations regarding the payment of social security contributions, income tax and nominal records of the insured persons" � The Electronic Single Point of Contact: the submission of statements, notifications or applications for authorization, including the applications for entry in a register, and any applications for authorization necessary to carry out service activities to the central government and other competent authorities. Some of the projects under development � The Government cloud; � The establishment of the National Electronic Register of Electronic Identities; � The digitization of the adoption process; � The computerization of the system for submitting applications for registration and effective issuance of civil status documents; 49 Source: http://dialogsocial.gov.ro/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/Ghid-52-final_cu-link-uri.pdf 46 � The development of a centralized national platform for the collection, storage and distribution of information on people with disabilities (adults and children) to stakeholders; Analysis of e-government in Suceava Suceava is one of the cities that voluntarily joined the national program "Transparent, open and participatory governance - standardization, harmonization, improved dialogue", carried out by the General Secretariat of the Government and the Ministry of European Affairs, along with Cluj-Napoca, Oradea, Sector 3 Municipality and other cities in the country and carries out two projects aimed at improving electronic services and their interoperability, free internet connection in public spaces and increasing transparency and citizen involvement in the development of the city. Figure 24. E-government assessment index Source: FSPAC. Legend: City: Contents: Ergonomics: Citizens participation and involvement: Security and protection of personal data: Online services: Final score: In terms of e-government, the score obtained by Suceava in the e-government assessment index of Romanian cities and municipalities – Front Office, created by researchers from Babeș Bolyai University, is 58.20 points out of 10050. Compared to other 3 cities (county seats), other than the 50 Faculty of Political, Administrative and Communication Sciences: https://fspac.ubbcluj.ro/ro/evenimente/evaluarea-guvernarii-electronice-orasele-din-romania. 47 regional poles, from the NW and SW Oltenia regions, i.e. Satu Mare (60.12), Baia Mare (72.66) and Râmnicu Vâlcea (60.93), one may notice that Suceava obtained the lowest score. The index has 47 indicators, divided into five categories, each with a certain weight in the final grade: Ergonomics (15%), Content (25%), online services (25%), Participation and involvement of the citizens (20%), Security and protection of personal data (15%). Transparency and efficiency in governance through the digitization of public services and citizen involvement The main digital tool that supports open, transparent and participatory governance is the website, which is a way to both communicate directly with the citizens and to establish a dialogue between the public administration and other stakeholders. In addition to this tool, it is necessary to develop fully digitized public services, mechanisms for their assessment and for evaluating the authorities’ decisions, as well as digital ways of involving the civil society in the development of the city. Moreover, digital public services need to be integrated, fast, secure and transparent for citizens and businesses, as they significantly reduce the time needed to manage a public service and streamline the process at a low cost. Website content (25%) The score obtained by the website of the Suceava Municipality in this category, based on the indicators in Table 10, is 48.28 out of 100 possible points. In order to streamline public services, it is necessary to develop tools that allow the filling-in of online forms. Also, in order to increase the citizens’ level of trust in the local administration, it is necessary to provide all the data concerning the local councilors, and also the staff of each department. Also in terms of transparency, from the perspective of society's participation in the decision-making process, the Local Council meetings must be livestreamed or the recordings published for a better communication, and contact information for the main departments must be published. Table 10. - E-government assessment index ✔ X � Website in several languages. � It does not contain contact information for the main departments. � It provides location and working hours information. � The digitization strategy/chapter (e-gov, smart city) is missing. It is necessary to � There are downloadable forms available. include it. � The draft Local Council decisions are � It does not offer the possibility to access available online, which means that the drafts online forms. are published before they are adopted. � No open datasets have been developed. � There is an organizational chart. � There are no minutes of the Local Council � Asset declarations for 2020 are available on meetings. the website. � It does not communicate information about � The building permits section is available and the staff and the heads of departments, it allows people to consult the lists. should at least mention details about who � Budget information is available. leads the departments. � The strategy and development plan of the � The information about local councilors only city can be accessed via the website. contains their names. Everyone's CVs, contact information and activity are missing. � There is information on public procurement. Source: FSPAC. 48 Ergonomics (15%) The page design received 3 points out of 4, which suggests that the user experience can be improved, for people to interact with the website more effectively. Generally, the website complies with the rules of ergonomics, and the indicators in this category (Table 11) made up a score of 78.26 out of 100 points. In terms of graphics, the design, font and color aspects can be improved, and the website should be mobile-friendly. Table 11. - E-government assessment index ✔ X � The page design can be improved, it is � It is not mobile-friendly. analyzed according to how easy it is to browse the information and whether it is user - friendly. � Fonts and colors are used correctly. � The navigation scheme follows the rules of ergonomics. � The search button works. � There is a mobile version of the website. � There is a menu category dedicated to public services, which means that Internet users can access online services with a single click, from a separate button on the first page. � The page has recent and visible updates. Source: FSPAC. Security and protection of personal data (15%) Out of a total of 100 points, in this category the Municipality website obtained 20 points, because the website is not secure and does not have a valid certificate, there is no personal data policy, which should be visible on the first page, and it does not offer the possibility to have an account on the website as a resident of the city. However, the website displays a warning message about the use of cookies. Table 12. - E-government assessment index ✔ X � There is a warning message about the use of � The website is not secure and does not have cookies. a valid certificate (https). � There is no personal data policy, it should be visible on the first page (usually in the footer). � There is no possibility for citizens to log in. Source: FSPAC. 49 Online services (25%) The local administration has adopted and implemented ghișeul.ro, the national platform through which several types of online services are provided (e.g. payment of taxes and levies or of fines). Another digital service is the possibility to check online building permits or town planning certificates. Requests for information of public interest can also be submitted online. Therefore, based on these indicators, the score obtained in this section is 88.24 points. Table 13. E-government assessment index ✔ X � There are online services for paying taxes � It does not offer other online services, but and levies, through ghișeul.ro. there are two sections for marriage publications and a database with taxi � Through ghișeul.ro people can pay fines. licenses. � There is an online registry. � There are no other payments offered online. � Online information of public interest (Law no. 544/2001) – requests for information of public interest can be submitted online. � Building permits – yes, through its own platform. � There are mobile applications. � Online urban planning certificate – can be verified through its own platform. Source: FSPAC. Citizen participation and involvement (20%) Regarding the participation and involvement of the citizens, the researchers from the Faculty of Political, Administrative and Communication Sciences granted 46.67 points out of 100. The administration did not receive the maximum score, because the citizens cannot publish comments on the draft decisions of the Local Council and cannot add comments or send messages to the Municipality through the website, the local newsletter is missing and there is no webchat on the website. However, the local administration has implemented Participatory Budgeting and offers online audiences or the possibility of scheduling online audiences. Table 14. E-government assessment index ✔ X � The local government offers online � The citizens cannot publish comments on audiences or scheduling for online draft decisions of the Local Council. audiences. � The citizens cannot add comments or send � The Municipality has implemented the messages to the Municipality via the participatory budgeting program. website. � The Municipality also has other active � The mayor’s office does not communicate accounts on social networks, for example with the residents through a local the Facebook page. newsletter. � There are no surveys and questionnaires on � There is no webchat through which citizens the website, as well as no audio or video can address specific issues. recordings. Source: FSPA. 50 Table 15. Table of e-services available to citizens Submission Communications Payments Application/platforms Web service for Checking Taxi authorizations Online payment They have developed a GIS platform, online document of taxes and where all the green spaces in Suceava submission levies. can be found Online consultation of Suceava Transport for the online building permits and urban payment of the fee for heavy traffic planning certificates vehicles travelling on the streets of the city subject to the tonnage restriction Integrated internal document (>3.5 tonnes). management mechanism There is an investment map; it is not fully functional at the moment There is a webcam installed at the ice rink It has developed its own payment portal Source: Municipality website In addition to standard information sections on legislation, opening hours etc., the Municipality has its own online payment platform (www.primsv-de.ro) - for taxes and levies, enforcement fees, fines and sanitation taxes (green taxes); however, it is not interconnected with the other databases, but it is available for information for the other departments and public services. At the same time, the Municipality is registered on the ghiseul.ro platform, and the citizens have access to these services as well. At the level of the back-office infrastructure, there is an integrated mechanism for managing internal documents, but it needs to be improved. The citizens' trust in the Municipality website and the share of the population using the internet The citizens' trust level in the Municipality's website was the same from 2013 to 2018, indicating a need to increase education regarding its use and to improve the quality of the website and the services offered through it. At the moment, the website attaches little importance to the fully digitized online services offered to citizens or companies, being mainly designed to provide information. However, through the APLICAT project, the Municipality aims to supplement the services offered at the moment. 51 Figure 25. Webpage trust level 1.2 1 0.8 0.6 0.4 0.2 0 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Value 1 1 1 1 1 1 Source: Romania's Urban Policy. Processing of Urban Indicators: https://citadini.ro/baza-de-date- urbane/ The city of Suceava has the highest share of the population using the Internet (over 50%), compared to other localities in Suceava County; the town of Dolhasca is at the other end of the spectrum. Another observation would be that most localities have a 20% share of citizens who use the Internet. Although a large share of the population of Suceava uses the Internet, the entire county must start both education campaigns, in order to increase the percentage of users, and actions to provide the citizens with internet access, by developing the related infrastructure, both in urban areas, as well as in rural ones. 52 Figure 26. Share of the population using the internet 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Câmp Gura Sucea ulung Făltice Rădău Vatra Milișă Broște Cajvan Dolhas Vicovu Salcea Humo Siret Solca Frasin Liteni va Moldo ni ți Dornei uți ni a ca de Sus rului venesc Internet use 57.29 26.16 43.72 47.06 39.95 45.6 44.76 28.98 42.41 23.46 28.02 18.39 16.95 23.96 17.29 23.53 Source: Romania's Urban Policy. Processing of Urban Indicators: https://citadini.ro/baza-de-date- urbane/ Satisfaction of Suceava residents with the efficiency of the administrative services in their city The answers to the question “ How satisfied are you with the activity of the local public administration in the field of urban planning?�, from the Urban Barometer survey, conducted under the Urban Policy, reflected that 66% of the residents of Suceava are satisfied with the housing quality. The result places the city above the national average of satisfaction with the efficiency of the administrative services (51%). 53 Figure 27. How satisfied are you with the activity of the local public administration in the field of urban planning? very satisfied rather satisfied rather dissatisfied very dissatisfied no response ORADEA 47% 35% 15% 0% 3% SINAIA 33% 43% 21% 1% 2% CLUJ NAPOCA 22% 45% 19% 5% 9% VATRA DORNEI 18% 48% 22% 11% 0% SUCEAVA 34% 32% 31% 1% 3% BUZAU 16% 47% 20% 12% 5% CONSTANTA 13% 49% 34% 1% 4% ALBA IULIA 13% 47% 27% 10% 4% TIMISOARA 9% 50% 28% 7% 6% IASI 16% 42% 29% 9% 4% MOLDOVA NOUA 19% 38% 39% 0% 3% SULINA 13% 44% 38% 1% 3% ABRUD 13% 44% 28% 12% 3% RESITA 21% 36% 30% 11% 2% EFORIE 20% 36% 44% 0% SIGHISOARA 17% 38% 28% 11% 7% BICAZ 21% 33% 41% 5%0% BRASOV 12% 41% 20% 18% 9% SIMERIA 13% 39% 39% 4% 6% CARANSEBES 9% 41% 40% 9% 1% SLATINA 11% 38% 42% 6% 3% BAILESTI 14% 35% 44% 6% 2% MIHAILESTI 10% 38% 44% 8% ISACCEA 12% 35% 48% 5% CARACAL 8% 39% 35% 18% 1% BAILE HERCULANE 10% 37% 46% 8% STEFANESTI 6% 40% 41% 11% 2% TG JIU 18% 27% 41% 13% 1% CAREI 5% 39% 50% 0% 5% M O R E N I 3% 41% 45% 9% 2% DROBETA TURNU SEVERIN 4% 40% 40% 13% 4% BOLINTIN VALE 4% 39% 33% 14% 10% PIATRA NEAMT 8% 35% 40% 11% 6% ALEXANDRIA 15% 27% 38% 18% 3% TARGU SECUIESC 6% 35% 33% 14% 12% BUCHAREST 9% 32% 33% 19% 7% CRAIOVA 7% 34% 33% 14% 12% BEIUS 6% 34% 33% 28% PLOIESTI 4% 36% 26% 18% 18% BUHUSI 7% 33% 46% 13% 2% TASNAD 14% 25% 57% 4% Source: Romania's Urban Policy, Quality of Life Barometer, 2020 54 The citizens' satisfaction with the efficiency of the administrative services in their city The efficiency of administrative services in Romanian cities, from the citizens’ perspective, was analyzed through the question "To what extent do you agree with the following statement: the administrative services of (my city) effectively help people?", in the Urban Barometer survey. Thus, according to the barometer, 52% of the urban population say they agree with the statement "in general, you can rely on the public administration in my city." In Suceava, 55% of the respondents agree with this statement, which positions the city above the national average. Figure 28. To what extent do you agree with the following statement: "The administrative services in (my city) help people effectively"? totally agree somewhat agree somewhat disagree totally disagree no response ORADEA 45% 38% 13% 2% 1% CLUJ NAPOCA 12% 57% 23% 6%2% SIMERIA 18% 50% 19% 3% 10% RESITA 23% 45% 15% 14% 4% IASI 30% 38% 23% 8% 1% ALBA IULIA 19% 47% 23% 8% 3% SINAIA 31% 34% 29% 1%4% CONSTANTA 14% 51% 33% 0% 2% SIGHISOARA 22% 43% 26% 7% 3% SULINA 23% 41% 36% TARGU SECUIESC 12% 46% 31% 8% 3% VATRA DORNEI 11% 48% 24% 16% 2% TIMISOARA 9% 50% 30% 9% 3% BEIUS 17% 41% 20% 17% 6% BICAZ 21% 36% 41% 2% SLATINA 19% 38% 40% 3%1% C A R A C A L 4% 52% 27% 17% 1% BUZAU 10% 46% 30% 12% 2% SUCEAVA 38% 17% 38% 7%1% B O L I N T I N V A L E 5% 50% 26% 12% 7% CARANSEBES 12% 42% 37% 8% 1% B A I L E S T I 5% 48% 35% 11% 1% ABRUD 16% 36% 29% 18% 1% D R O B E T A T U R N U S E V E R I N 6% 46% 37% 11% 0% EFORIE 13% 38% 49% MORENI 20% 30% 42% 7%1% MOLDOVA NOUA 17% 33% 44% 5% P L O I E S T I 7% 43% 30% 13% 8% TASNAD 19% 30% 49% 3% CRAIOVA 8% 36% 41% 11% 3% PIATRA NEAMT 10% 35% 43% 10% 4% BUCHAREST 8% 36% 30% 22% 4% ALEXANDRIA 12% 31% 37% 18% 1% BRASOV 14% 30% 38% 15% 4% ISACCEA 16% 25% 58% 0% B A I L E H E R C U L A N E 4% 36% 51% 9% TG JIU 12% 27% 47% 14% 0% M I H A I L E S T I 6% 33% 49% 12% S T E F A N E S T I 4% 30% 42% 18% 6% C A R E I 5% 28% 63% 3% 1% B U H U S I 1% 28% 45% 26% 1% Source: Romania's Urban Policy, Quality of Life Barometer, 2020 55 Informing and involving the citizens in administrative decisions The Urban Barometer survey asked citizens if they were informed about the provisions of the General Urban Plan (PUG) and the Local Development Strategy (SDL), if they were involved/consulted in the drafting of the PUG and the SDL and if they knew about the urban development projects that will be implemented by the local public administration. 15% of the people living in Suceava know the PUG and the SDL, 6% were consulted in their drafting and 30% know the Municipality’s projects. 3% of the interviewees at national level stated that they were involved/consulted in the drafting of the PUG and SDL, which positions Suceava as one of the cities where citizen involvement is above the national average. At national level, the survey concluded that informing and involving the citizens in administrative decisions has a direct effect on the trust in the local administration: � +8% trust in the administration for those who know the PUG and the SDL; � +11% trust in the administration for those who know the development projects that will be implemented; � +13% trust in the administration for those who were involved in the implementation of the PUG and the SDL. Therefore, in order to increase the level of trust and satisfaction among the citizens towards the services offered by the local public administration in Suceava, it is necessary to have a greater degree of involvement and awareness of the citizens regarding the development and implementation of the General Urban Plan and the Local Development Strategy, as well as the projects to be implemented. Although the municipality has obtained a score above the national average, it is necessary to improve this indicator through a greater communication effort, as well as by developing digital involvement mechanisms. 56 Figure 29. - Informing and involving the citizens in administrative decisions know the PUG, SDL were consulted know the Municipality projects SINAIA 20% 8% 32% 25% 7% 25% BRASOV 20% 6% 21% 15% 6% 15% ORADEA 21% 6% 30% 13% 5% 10% TG JIU 16% 4% 20% 13% 3% 11% STEFANESTI 10% 3% 6% 16% 3% 17% BUCHAREST 15% 3% 16% 9% 3% 15% CLUJ NAPOCA 15% 3% 23% 11% 3% 9% TARGU SECUIESC 7% 3% 9% 16% 2% 13% ISACCEA 22% 2% 23% 14% 2% 7% BAILESTI 16% 2% 15% 7% 2% 9% TIMISOARA 10% 2% 10% 19% 2% 35% SULINA 12% 2% 10% 20% 1% 19% SLATINA 7% 1% 8% 17% 1% 15% PIATRA NEAMT 13% 1% 14% 10% 1% 7% BEIUS 11% 1% 9% 10% 1% 12% MORENI 5% 1% 10% 6% 1% 20% BUHUSI 4% 1% 7% 6% 1% 5% CARACAL 4% 5% 7% 8% EFORIE 18% 19% 10% 10% MOLDOVA NOUA 12% 22% 6% 8% VATRA DORNEI 36% 34% Source: Romania's Urban Policy, Quality of Life Barometer, 2020 57 At the same time, according to the Urban Barometer, there is at least one mechanism for permanent involvement of and collaboration with the citizens in administrative decision-making at the local government level in Suceava, Vatra Dornei, Rădăuți and Gura Humorului. Suceava residents replied that the local administration has applied Law no. 52/2003 on decision- making transparency. The respondents in Vatra Dornei mentioned that public consultations are carried out by "posting on the official Municipality website, but they are also organized at the institution's headquarters". While the people in Rădăuți listed the following actions: the Local Council draft decisions are put up for public debate; the public is consulted upon the approval of the PUZ/PUD urban planning documents. Vicovu de Sus residents replied that the social networks are used to consult the citizens, and those in Gura Humorului offered the organization of public consultations as an example. The respondents in Dolhasca, Fălticeni and Liteni answered that there were mechanisms, but they did not provide examples, and the citizens in Milisăuti, Frasin, Broșteni and Siret said that there were none. In addition, in Suceava, the Participatory Budgeting project was implemented; however, the e- government assessment index for Romanian towns and cities - Front Office, developed by the Faculty of Political, Administrative and Communication Sciences, did not provide a maximum score to the local authorities for the involvement and participation of citizens in the decision-making process. Average assessment of administrative performance indicators The opinion poll conducted under Romania’s Urban Policy contains the following values for the average of the assessment of Suceava’s administrative performance indicators: the way public money is spent (5.43), the city’s pace of development (5.63); the amount of the local taxes (5.33) and the citizens’ relationship with the local authorities (5.7). The scores obtained are from a total of 10 possible points. At national level, the average of the four administrative performance indicators is 5.4. Taken together, these indicators explain about 65% of the dynamics of trust in the local administration. At the same time, the citizens’ relationship with the local authorities had the highest average score, 5.71 points out of 10, and the way public money is spent scored the lowest: 5.19 points. Thus, 3 of the 4 indicators in Suceava are above the national average. For the indicator with the highest score obtained at national level, the citizens’ relationship with the local authorities (5.71 points), Suceava obtained 5.7. 58 Figure 30. Average assessment of administrative performance indicators average assessment of the way public money is spent average assessment of the city development pace average assessment of the local taxes amount average assessment of the relationship with the citizens CLUJ NAPOCA (R_NV) 6.87 7.34 6.37 6.79 ORADEA (R_NV) 6.72 7.57 5.15 7.18 SINAIA (O_M) 6.70 6.99 6.75 7.18 CONSTANTA (R_SE) 6.39 6.24 7.13 6.43 BEIUS (M_NV) 6.22 6.16 6.23 6.62 IASI (R_NE) 6.05 6.62 6.12 6.82 MOLDOVA NOUA (O_V) 6.00 6.54 7.01 6.98 SULINA (O_SE) 5.81 5.84 5.84 6.08 ISACCEA (O_SE) 5.79 5.92 5.92 6.32 BICAZ (O_NE) 5.72 5.92 5.74 6.49 SLATINA (R_O) 5.71 6.64 6.35 6.61 VATRA DORNEI (M_NE) 5.70 5.87 6.06 5.98 CAREI (M_NV) 5.67 5.68 5.83 5.84 TIMISOARA (R_V) 5.64 6.75 5.63 6.51 RESITA (M_V) 5.55 6.1 4.86 6.07 SIGHISOARA (M_C) 5.54 5.71 5.63 5.92 BRASOV (R_C) 5.53 4.87 4.39 5.39 SUCEAVA (R_NE) 5.43 5.63 5.33 5.7 DROBETA TURNU SEVERIN (R_O) 5.38 5.42 5.08 5.38 EFORIE (O_SE) 5.31 5.6 6.34 6.79 ALBA IULIA (R_C) 5.23 5.32 4.85 6.23 STEFANESTI (O_M) 5.19 5.32 4.93 5.29 MORENI (M_M) 5.08 4.95 5.16 5.37 BAILE HERCULANE (O_V) 5.05 4.91 4.83 5.13 MIHAILESTI (O_M) 5.03 5.01 5.09 5.32 CRAIOVA (R_O) 4.95 5.37 4.96 5.21 TG JIU (R_O) 4.91 5.06 4.8 5.22 BUCHAREST (R_BI) 4.91 5.71 5.37 5.37 CARANSEBES (M_V) 4.76 4.99 5.07 6.15 CARACAL (M_O) 4.71 4.74 4.97 5.13 TARGU SECUIESC (M_C) 4.70 4.59 4.56 5.04 ABRUD (O_C) 4.66 5.06 5.3 5.62 SIMERIA (O_V) 4.58 4.92 5.31 5.43 ALEXANDRIA (R_M) 4.39 4.3 4.49 5.43 TASNAD (O_NV) 4.30 4.01 4.22 4.62 BAILESTI (M_O) 4.28 4.17 4.03 4.59 PIATRA NEAMT (R_NE) 4.26 4.41 4.26 4.97 BUZAU (R_M) 4.15 4.39 3.93 4.77 BOLINTIN VALE (O_M) 4.08 4.3 4.36 4.93 PLOIESTI (R_M) 3.82 4.23 4.04 4.74 BUHUSI (O_NE) 3.05 3.1 3.39 3.91 Source: Romania's Urban Policy, Quality of Life Barometer, 2020 59 Examples of digitization projects 51 Cluj-Napoca has launched a series of digitization initiatives, with the support of IT&C clusters: Antonia – the digital civil servant, Digital Seniors – a digital education program among seniors (how to use the computer and internet to make online bank payments), the ClujBusinesss.ro Platform, where information related to the business environment is communicated (information, statistics, sector studies or registering the company profile to publish events), Participatory Budgeting or Parking Application, which monitors available places. Alba Iulia has implemented 196 pilot projects, such as intelligent public lighting, car sharing, an online petition application, an apartment management solution, parking sensors, digital courses. At the same time, their experience shows that citizens need digital education to use these solutions. Case study – Sector 3 Municipality Digital Services offered by Sector 3 Municipality: Through the Non-Stop Municipality project52, Sector 3 residents can benefit from the following online public services: � Online payment of local taxes and levies. � Submitting online applications and documentation to request a parking space; � Obtaining Urban Planning Certificates online; � Submitting online notifications and tracking them; � The "I love S3" application allows people to view the map of complaints received from citizens, as well as their resolution status; � Online scheduling for marriages, transcription of civil status certificates/extracts; � Online issuance of authorizations, agreements and notices of commercial operation, through the platform http://edirect.e-guvernare.ro.53; � Online issuance of tax clearance certificates; � Exclusively online enrollment in Sector 3 nurseries; � A section that allows citizens to assess the activity of the institution. � Owners' associations can send the association's documents online.54 � According to the online services assessment index, developed by the Faculty of Political, Administrative and Communication Sciences, the Sector 3 Municipality ranks 8th in terms of e-government in Romania, with a score of 79.92 out of 100. 51 Source: Curs de guvernare: https://cursdeguvernare.ro/roxana-minzatu-ministrul-fondurilor-europene- despre-proiectele-de-digitalizare-a-administratiei-aflate-in-lucru.html 52 Source: Sector 3 Municipality https://www.primarie3.ro/index.php/presa/comunicat/servicii-publice-online-pentru-ceteni-oferite-de- primria-sectorului-3 53 Smart City Association: https://romaniansmartcity.ro/primaria-sector3-digitalizare-activitate/ 54 Source: Sector 3 Municipality https://www.primarie3.ro/index.php/presa/comunicat/in-premiera-nationala-documentele-asociatiilor-de- proprietari-pot-fi-transmise-online-la-primaria-sectorului-3 60 Case study: Oradea Digital services at the level of local public institutions and local public service operators: the structure of the IT infrastructure contains55: � At the level of Oradea Municipality: ○ Impotax - local taxes and levies ○ The City Report application that allows citizens to send various notifications and incidents to Oradea Municipality and local public service operators ○ Ecub - Accounting and budget ○ Invest - investments ○ Cid - the internal circuit of documents ○ Agroregis - the agricultural register ○ Resum - human resources, salaries ○ Audiențe - audience management ○ Taxi - taxi authorization management ○ Evidence of court cases ○ Registry Archive ○ Mobile applications ○ SIGMA – integrated data management system ○ A GIS application ○ According to the online services assessment index, developed by the Faculty of Political, Administrative and Communication Sciences, Oradea ranks 5th in Romania in terms of e- government, with a score of 77.13 out points of 100. � The Building Stock Administration, the Community Social Administration, the Day Center and the Municipal Sports Club have financial and accounting applications. � The Building Stock Administration: the activity of surveyors [MapSys (maps) and TopoSys (measurement measurement], SIGMI – economic assessment, drafting and calculation of estimates, bidding and monitoring of construction and installation works and a software for estimates and project management in constructions and installations, public parking management activity: control application – for controllers who give fines (with phone license). � Oradea Transport Local has its own data center, E-Ticketing application, financial and accounting application, management, payroll, daily activity file tracking, fuel supply tracking, video surveillance system. � Compania de Apă Oradea: 22 Servers and a Hardware Firewall – Fortinet 200D. 55 Source: Oradea Municipality website: http://www.oradea.ro/fisiere/module_fisiere/23644/caiet%20de%20sarcini%20strategie%20informatizare%2 0MO.pdf 61 Case Study: Cluj-Napoca Digital services provided by Cluj-Napoca Municipality 56 � The platform that allows the online payment of local taxes and levies (local taxes, concession fees, rental fees). � Online wedding scheduling. � Online scheduling for submitting applications for transcription of civil status certificates/extracts/multilingual extracts of civil status documents of citizens who have acquired/regained Romanian citizenship. � Submission and online tracking of over 90 forms/applications. � The online payment of traffic fines and of fines given by the local police, the payment of other no- debit taxes (fee for issuing identity cards, divorce tax, urban planning certificate, extension of urban planning certificate or building permit, archaeological site, outside of built-up areas/within the built- up areas, etc.) and the payment of the free pass fee. � Online payment of fines under forced execution; the service is used by several companies. � Online services implemented through the European project "An integrated IT system for online services offered in Cluj-Napoca": Request for the placement of billboards and banners; Request for the organization of manifestations/public events, Parking permit management service, Reporting abandoned cars, Reporting community dogs, Reporting beggars, Reporting clandestine ramps, Reporting problems related to taxes and levies, Reporting problems related to green spaces, Reporting problems related to Social Assistance, Reporting problems related to streets, alleys, roads, bridges, Reporting problems related to road signs. � Cluj-Napoca Municipality has also joined the national portal ghișeul.ro, allowing citizens to have access to e-services provided by the system. � Online scheduling for discussions with the administration staff by requesting a blue ticket. � It presents the delineation and neighbors of the administrative territory. � According to the online services assessment index, developed by the Faculty of Political, Administrative and Communication Sciences, Cluj-Napoca ranks first in Romania in terms of e- government, with a score of 92.58 out of 100. The city of Suceava is in a process of developing its identity and digital services in accordance with European standards. The scenario it is in is based on good connectivity, in terms of internet infrastructure, digital front and back office services under development (currently the website only offers the possibility to access information, to submit forms and make payments, but does not offer fully digitized public services), human capital requiring soft and hard digital skills and insufficiently digitally literate citizens, although over 50% of Suceava residents have access to the internet. At national level, the digital public services for enterprises are almost non-existent or underdeveloped. Regarding this indicator, Suceava is in line with the national standard and has not developed services dedicated to the private sector. The Sector 3 Municipality took a step in this direction by issuing online authorizations, agreements and permits for commercial operation through a dedicated platform; the Cluj-Napoca Municipality did something similar by creating a platform for businesses. Other good practices observed within the Sector 3 Municipality are the exclusively online registration with Sector 3 nurseries or the possibility for the block administrators to submit the documents online. 56 Source: Cluj-Napoca Municipality Website: https://primariaclujnapoca.ro/taxe-si-impozite-locale/ 62 Regarding online payments, Cluj-Napoca offers a service for online payment of fines under forced execution, which is used by several companies. At the same time, the Cluj-Napoca administration made the following services available to the citizens, through European funds: request for the placement of billboards and banners; request for the organization of manifestations/public events, parking permit management service and an interactive virtual space dedicated to notifications (abandoned cars, community dogs, beggars, clandestine ramps, tax issues, problems related to green spaces, problems related to social assistance, problems related to streets, alleys, roads, bridges, problems related to road signs, etc.). Also, Sector 3 Municipality has developed a special application that allows citizens to view the map of notifications and track their status, and Oradea has an application that allows the communication of problems to the Municipality and local public services operators. The participation and involvement of Suceava residents through e-government had a low score in the index that evaluates the digitization in Romanian cities, conducted by the Faculty of Political, Administrative and Communication Sciences. Suceava did not receive the maximum score because the citizens cannot publish comments on draft decisions of the Local Council and cannot add comments or send messages to the Municipality through the website, there is no local newsletter or a webchat on the website. A good example would be the mechanisms implemented by Sector 3 Municipality (a section that allows citizens to assess the activity of the institution) and Cluj-Napoca Municipality (local newsletter, online scheduling for discussions with the administration staff by requesting a blue ticket or organizing public debates through online platforms etc.). The score obtained in the digital services section, under the e-government assessment index, created by the Faculty of Political, Administrative and Communication Sciences, is 58.20 out of 100 points. However, an important aspect is that the administration is running the Aplicat project, which aims to optimize local public services, increase transparency, develop a platform dedicated to the communication between the Municipality and stakeholders and create an application for online public information, in real time. Regarding the Smart City infrastructure, Oradea Municipality has taken steps towards transforming the city. One of these steps is the strategy dedicated to this segment and the development of basic infrastructure (water, local transport, etc.) in smart services, by developing data centers and offering digital solutions (e.g. e-ticketing). In this segment, Alba Iulia ranks first among the cities undergoing digital transformation, with 196 smart projects developed, including car & bike sharing, smart lighting, online petition application, apartment management solution, parking sensors, digital courses, etc. According to Vegacomp Consulting, Cluj-Napoca ranks second, having implemented various projects, from the digital public servant to digital education courses. Some of the important things achieved by many cities are accessing European funds for the smart cities segment, participating in Smart Cities competitions and developing partnerships or collaborations with cities in the European Union or with the private and academic environment. The process of becoming a smart city is expensive, complex and involves several stages. However, from a budget point of view there are both European and national funds, and in terms of best practices and knowledge, the necessary experience is provided by the European institutions or the private sector, as well as by more advanced cities through various forms of partnership. From a smart city perspective, Suceava has 4 smart projects, of which 3 are for mobility and 1 for smart living. This data indicates the administration's interest in this subject, but it also suggests that the city is lagging behind regarding its transformation into a smart city. Two other important points regarding the development of the smart city of Suceava are the GrowSmarter project - "Smart development for European cities: 2014 - 2020", funded by the European Union through the Horizon 2020 Framework Program and the Suceava Smart Impact Integrated Action Plan - Innovative solutions for sustainable institutional development. Moreover, the city of Suceava is part of the cities that have voluntarily joined the national program "Transparent, open and 63 participatory governance - standardization, harmonization, improved dialogue", carried out by the General Secretariat of the Government and the Ministry of European Affairs, together with Cluj- Napoca, Oradea, Sector 3 Municipality and other cities in the country and is implementing two projects aimed at improving e-services and their interoperability, free internet connection in public spaces and increasing transparency and citizen involvement in the city’s development process. 64 DIAGNOSTIC ANALYSIS: CONCLUSIONS, CHALLENGES, TRENDS AND RECOMMENDATIONS Identified challenges, trends and needs Recommendations Local public administration and existing associative structures • Lack of coordination pertaining to the • Know-how transfer sessions and good development of administrative capacity practices procedures at the level of the between the localities within the Functional Urban Area in regards to public Functional Urban Area consultations with the population and stakeholders • The need to develop human capital resources within the local public • Attracting EU funds from the 2021-2027 administration, mainly in terms of the programming period to increase the efficiency transition to a smart city of administrative flows related to smart governance Local budgets • Relatively low capacity to absorb EU funds • Strengthening the capacity to attract for large projects. European funds - both internal (i.e. number of • Low level of own-source revenues EU funds experts and better staff training • Relatively low ability to attract foreign programs on European project management) investment. and external (strategic partnerships with companies specializing in project writing or preparation of technical documentation). • Increasing local taxes and identifying new sources of revenue for the local budget. • Establish an internal unit, possibly at the metropolitan level, focused on attracting investors and promoting Suceava as an investment destination. Human and material resources • Limited potential to attract skilled labor and specialists at the level of local public • Collaboration with universities, the private administration, mainly due to low salaries sector, citizens and civil society to identify and implement projects that can have an impact at the local level in attracting human and material resources, as well as in streamlining administrative flows • Promoting employment through more jobs and prolonging and increasing the quality of professional life. Digital public services and the relationship with citizens • No fully digitized services have been • The city of Suceava is in a process of developed, the online interaction between developing its identity and digital services at public authorities and the population only European standards. The current scenario is includes the submission of online forms, based on good connectivity, in terms of appointments and payments. internet infrastructure, digital front and back • No fully digitized business services have office services under development (currently been developed. the site only offers the possibility to access information, submit forms and make 65 Identified challenges, trends and needs Recommendations • There are no open data sets available to payments, but does not offer fully digitized citizens or businesses. public services), human capital that requires • Lack of a department dedicated to the soft and hard digital skills and insufficiently process of digitization of Suceava, literate citizens, although over 50% of people including for the development of a smart in Suceava have access to the internet. city. • Improving the internet infrastructure in the • There are no basic tools for citizen area (connectivity). participation and involvement. • Establishment of an entity dedicated to the • At the level of Mitocu Dragomirnei process of digitalization of public services and commune: no fully digitized services have intelligent transformation of the city. Which been developed, the online interaction means creating new jobs, such as Data between public authorities and the Manager or Smart City Project Manager, and population includes only the submission of attracting people with higher education in the online forms, appointments and payments; IT department. no fully digitized services have been • Citizens and human capital with digital skills developed for businesses, no open data (Digital skills). sets are available to citizens or businesses; • Develop effective digital communication tools lack of a department dedicated to the and conduct extensive and creative process of digitization of the commune, communication campaigns to inform citizens including for the development of an about the various tools developed and to intelligent commune; there are no basic generate involvement from them. tools for citizen participation and • Establishing and assuming an integrated vision involvement. of all public services offered to citizens and • At the level of Adâncata commune, the developing a strong collaboration with both online interaction between public central and regional authorities. authorities and the population includes • Digitization of all public services and only the publication of information of increasing their utilization rate (e- public interest (observation from Adâncata Government). commune). • Increasing the involvement of citizens in the development process of the city through the continuous development of the concept of participatory budgeting and the development of a more efficient and transparent online dialogue, through various digital tools. • Accessing European and national funds allocated for the digitization of public services. • Access European and national funds allocated for the development of administrative capacity and digitization of public services. • Join an alliance / organization dedicated to Smart City to exchange good practices and know-how. • Participate in various European digitization and Smart City competitions. • Attracting the private environment (start-ups or big tech) for the development of smart solutions through public-private partnerships. • Recommendations for the communes part of UFA / ZM: adoption of the digital solution ghișeul.ro; the possibility of accessing European funds for the development and implementation of e-government services; 66 Identified challenges, trends and needs Recommendations the possibility to attract the private environment (start-ups or big tech) for the development of smart solutions through public-private partnerships, improving the internet infrastructure in the area (Connectivity), developing digital skills among citizens, developing effective digital communication tools and conducting extensive and creative communication campaigns to inform citizens about the various tools developed and increase their utilization rate (e-Government), increasing citizen involvement in the development of the city by continuously developing the concept of participatory budgeting and developing a more efficient and transparent online dialogue through various tools. 67 ANNEX 1. AMENDMENTS TO THE STATE BUDGET LAW BETWEEN 2015 AND 2019 AND HOW THEY AFFECTED THE FINANCING OF THE LOCAL ADMINISTRATIONS The Romanian state budget law stipulates the amounts of money collected available to the state, their origin and uses. However, there are recurring derogations from this law when it comes to adopting the annual public budget, generating a significant impact on local budgets. In Romania, according to Law no. 273/2006 on local public finance, republished57, the share of the income tax is distributed as follows: • 41.75% to the local budgets of the communes, towns and cities; • 11.25% to the local budget of the county; • 18.5% in a separate account for balancing the local budgets. Out of the share of 18.5%, 27% is allocated to the county's own budget, and 73% is distributed between the local budgets of the communes, towns and cities. The following tables reflect the volatility of allocations and exemptions adopted by the central government with an impact on the local budgets, in particular due to changes in allocations and the taxation of personal income (TPI) and value added tax (VAT). The evolution of the share of the personal income tax distributed locally Year The amount distributed from the income tax By way of derogation from the Law on Public Finance, the income tax is distributed as follows: • 15% to the local budget of the county 201958 • 60% to the local budgets of the communes, towns and cities • 17.5% in a separate account for balancing the local budgets • By way of derogation from the Law on Public Finance, the income tax is distributed as follows: • 11.25% to the local budget of the county 201859 • 43% to the local budgets of the communes, towns and cities • 17.25% in a separate account for balancing the local budgets • • By way of derogation, the amounts deducted from the value added tax, approved by the state budget law, and from the share of 18.5% of the income tax for balancing the local 201760 budgets shall be distributed as follows: 27% for the county budget and 73% for balancing the local budgets of the communes, towns and cities. • By way of derogation, the amounts deducted from the value added tax, approved by the 61 state budget law, and from the share of 18.5% of the income tax for balancing the local 2016 budgets shall be distributed as follows: 27% for the county budget and 73% for balancing the local budgets of the communes, towns and cities. Evolution of the VAT share allocated to local budgets (RON) The VAT amount allocated to the local The VAT amount for balancing the local Year budgets budgets 57 http://www.dpfbl.mdrap.ro/legislatie/Legea_273_din_2006.pdf 58 https://static.anaf.ro/static/10/Anaf/legislatie/L_50_2019.pdf 59 https://static.anaf.ro/static/10/Anaf/legislatie/L_2_2018.pdf 60 https://static.anaf.ro/static/10/Anaf/legislatie/L_6_2017.pdf 61 https://static.anaf.ro/static/10/Anaf/legislatie/L_339_2015.pdf 68 2019 RON 14,792.3 billion RON 11,409.9 billion 2018 RON 13,340.6 billion RON 5,290.4 billion 2017 RON 22,190.5 billion RON 2,469.5 billion 2016 RON 18,693.9 billion RON 2,228.1 billion Evolution of the personal income tax and VAT rates in Romania (%) Year VAT Personal income tax 2019 19%; 10%; 2018 19%; 10%; 2017 19%; 16%; 2016 20%; 16%; 2015 24%; 16%; Evolution of the income tax and VAT components at county seat level (RON) Personal income tax Year VAT components Total revenues components 2012 3,195,328,442 2,924,615,531 11,024,162,100 2013 3,406,214,660 3,375,624,547 11,613,820,336 2014 3,456,224,669 4,072,314,472 12,351,928,465 2015 4,050,401,198 4,298,938,605 13,639,192,032 2016 4,199,961,006 4,298,164,978 13,057,161,580 2017 4,728,928,933 5,245,036,534 13,977,798,229 2018 3,866,818,538 1,189,261,952 10,038,903,807 This data is valid for county seats and is presented here for illustrative purposes. For Bucharest and its sectors, section 2 of Chapter 1 contains a complete description of the changes in the distribution formula over the years. 69 To prepare a list of priority projects, the starting point is the long list of projects, which will include all unimplemented projects or projects not started from the 2016-2023 Suceava IUDS (see the table below), and adding projects collected from the local administration and from the citizens and relevant actors in the area. The World Bank has developed a methodology for prioritizing projects for local development strategies. This methodology can be consulted here: http://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/en/427191468179668911/pdf/97813-WP-ROMANIAN-P151596-Box391484B-PUBLIC.pdf A similar approach can be used in preparing a portfolio of priority projects in Suceava. Table 4. Degree of implementation of the projects in the 2016-2023 Suceava IUDS Possible sources of Estimated Implementation Strategy/Plan Project Beneficiaries Project status (September 2020) funds budget in EUR period Providing tax facilities for the business The Suceava IUDS Local Budget € 10,000.00 2017-2023 NOT IMPLEMENTED environment Municipality Establishment of the "Bucovina� Industrial The Suceava Private funds, Local IUDS € 2,100,000.00 2019-2023 NOT IMPLEMENTED Park in Suceava Municipality budget ROP 2014-2020, Energy efficiency of the building where the The Suceava UNDER IMPLEMENTATION - IUDS Investment priority € 1,200,800.00 2018-2020 Suceava Municipality operates Municipality completed: 70% 3.1 B - Public buildings ROP 2014-2020, Increasing energy efficiency in residential The Suceava Investment priority IUDS € 780,000.00 2019-2023 Drafting the feasibility study buildings in Suceava Municipality 3.1 A - Residential buildings Local budget, EEA, Modernization of the Bazar Commercial The Suceava IUDS Norwegian financial € 3,500,000.00 2020-2023 NOT IMPLEMENTED - FS stage Complex, including alternative energy heating Municipality mechanism Introduction of utility supply systems Local budget, EEA, The Suceava IUDS (lighting/heating) in the markets by using Norwegian financial € 410,000.00 2018-2023 NOT IMPLEMENTED Municipality alternative, renewable energy sources mechanism Use of energy efficient lighting sources in The Suceava Swiss-Romanian IUDS € 2,210,000.00 2017-2019 Implemented for 21 schools Suceava schools Municipality cooperation program Implementation of HEMS (Home Energy The Suceava IUDS Management Systems) pilot system for public Local Budget € 20,000.00 2020-2023 NOT IMPLEMENTED Municipality buildings Study on the appropriateness of using closed The Suceava Local budget, EEA, IUDS non-compliant waste platforms as a resource € 580,000.00 2017-2019 NOT IMPLEMENTED Municipality Swiss for alternative energy production 70 Temporary markets with The Suceava Local budget, IUDS GROW URBAN FOOD in Suceava City € 150,000.00 2019-2023 traditional products - 2; under Municipality URBACT, private funds implementation - 2 Rehabilitation of the thermal energy The Suceava LIOP 2014– 2020, PA NOT IMPLEMENTED - FS IUDS transmission and distribution system in € 30,700,000.00 2018-2023 Municipality 7, SO 7.1 execution Suceava Rehabilitation and extension of the drinking The Suceava LIOP 2014– 2020, PA IUDS water supply system, of the sewer system and € 7,400,000.00 2018-2023 21% COMPLETED Municipality 3, SO 3.2 stormwater drainage system in Suceava City Rehabilitation/Extension of public lighting in The Suceava ROP 2014-2020, IP 3.1 IMPLEMENTED - necessary IUDS € 2,000,000.00 2018-2021 newly built areas Municipality C investment in LED/PV panels Creating an integrated selective collection The Suceava LIOP 2014-2020, PA IUDS € 3,000,000.00 2018-2023 100% COMPLETED system Municipality 3.1, Local budget Laying out places for the storage of non- The Suceava LIOP 2014-2020, PA IUDS € 2,500,000.00 2017-2020 40% COMPLETED household waste Municipality 3.1, Local budget Multifunctional/educational/cultural center - The Suceava ROP 2014- 2020, IP NOT IMPLEMENTED - idea for IUDS € 1,700,000.00 2020-2022 Dragomirna water treatment plant Municipality 4.3 FUA 2021-2027 The Suceava IUDS Consolidation of the Suceava riverbed LIOP 2014-2020, PA 5 € 2,400,000.00 2018-2020 NOT IMPLEMENTED - FS phase Municipality Decontamination and enhancement of the The Suceava IUDS LIOP 2014-2020, IP 4.3 € 1,200,000.00 2018-2019 NOT IMPLEMENTED Termica slag storage area Municipality Decontamination of the land in the former The Suceava IUDS LIOP 2014-2020, IP 4.3 € 1,200,000.00 2018-2019 NOT IMPLEMENTED industrial area Municipality Leisure area Șipote Park/Rehabilitation of The Suceava Local budget, Central IUDS € 360,000.00 2018-2020 NOT IMPLEMENTED - FS phase Șipote Park in order to restore its functionality Municipality budget Local budget, State Rehabilitation of the Park located on Mărăști The Suceava IUDS budget/Environmental € 37,000.00 2018-2019 NOT IMPLEMENTED - FS phase Street Municipality fund The Suceava IUDS Creating green areas/parks ROP 2014- 2020, PA 9 € 500,000.00 2018-2020 NOT IMPLEMENTED Municipality Modernization of the fire hydrant system at The Suceava IUDS LIOP, PA 5 € 400,000.00 2018-2020 15% COMPLETED the level of Suceava City Municipality Increasing the level of preparedness for a The Suceava LIOP, PA 5, Local IUDS rapid and efficient disaster response of € 300,000.00 2018-2020 NOT IMPLEMENTED Municipality budget intervention crews 71 Adapting the urban infrastructure to reduce The Suceava LIOP, PA 5, Local IUDS € 5,000,000.00 2017-2023 NOT IMPLEMENTED the intervention time in the event of disasters Municipality budget Rehabilitation of apartment building façades The Suceava ROP 2014- 2020, PA 3, NOT IMPLEMENTED - PUZ IUDS in the central area in order to create a € 3,800,000.00 2017-2023 Municipality Local budget (phase) coherent urban ensemble Shared spaces in Cuza Vodă, Zamca, Mărășești, George Enescu neighborhoods in The Suceava IUDS ROP 2014-2020, IP 4.1 € 5,000,000.00 2017-2023 NOT IMPLEMENTED Suceava City, a project extracted from the Municipality SUMP COMPLETED - necessary Supporting the use of electric means of The Suceava extension of charging IUDS transport in Suceava City, a project extracted ROP 2014-2020, IP 4.1 € 375,000.00 2017-2023 Municipality systems/stations, parking lots, from the SUMP etc Local budget, Swiss- Purchase of alternative (electric) vehicles Romanian The Suceava IUDS necessary for market administration, Cooperation Program € 1,620,500.00 2018-2023 Completed: 10% Municipality transport and freight distribution activities (EEA), Norwegian Mechanism Integrated green public transport system in The Suceava ROP 2014- 2020, IP Under implementation - IUDS € 26,000,000.00 2017-2023 Suceava, a project extracted from the SUMP Municipality 4.1 completed: 60% Building and rearranging the road infrastructure, on public transport corridors, The Suceava IUDS to increase the level of travel safety and ROP 2014-2020, IP 4.1 € 16,420,000.00 2017-2023 NOT IMPLEMENTED Municipality efficiency of the transport network, a project extracted from the SUMP Support for bicycle trips in Suceava City, a The Suceava IUDS ROP 2014-2020, IP 4.1 € 250,000.00 2017-2023 NOT IMPLEMENTED project extracted from the SUMP Municipality Rehabilitation of streets and sidewalks in the The Suceava IUDS/SUMP central area and residential neighborhoods, a NLDP € 9,000,000.00 2017-2023 30% COMPLETED Municipality project extracted from the SUMP Rehabilitation of streets and sidewalks in the The Suceava IUDS/SUMP central area and residential neighborhoods, a NLDP € 5,000,000.00 2024-2030 Municipality project extracted from the SUMP Extension of the street layout in the newly The Suceava IUDS/SUMP built residential areas, a project extracted NLDP € 7,500,000.00 2017-2023 90% COMPLETED Municipality from the SUMP Extension of the street layout in the newly The Suceava IUDS/SUMP built residential areas, a project extracted NLDP/Local budget € 7,500,000.00 2024-2030 Municipality from the SUMP 72 Building residential car parks and The Suceava IUDS/SUMP rehabilitating the existing ones, a project Local Budget € 3,000,000.00 2017-2023 50% COMPLETED Municipality extracted from the SUMP Building residential car parks and The Suceava IUDS/SUMP rehabilitating the existing ones, a project Local Budget € 2,000,000.00 2023-2030 Municipality extracted from the SUMP North-East Region - Strategic Road Axis 1: Iași The Suceava ROP 2014- 2020, IP IUDS € 5,800,000.00 2019-2023 Under implementation - 20% - Suceava Municipality 6.1 Installation of traffic lights in areas at risk of The Suceava IUDS Local Budget € 430,000.00 2019-2021 10% COMPLETED accidents Municipality The Suceava Local budget, Central IUDS Rehabilitation of Ițcani Railway Station € 2,000,000.00 2017-2018 NOT IMPLEMENTED Municipality budget Integrated urban management and modelling system designed to streamline traffic and The Suceava IUDS ROP 2014-2020, IP 4.1 € 5,200,000.00 2017-2023 NOT IMPLEMENTED improve the quality of life, a project extracted Municipality from the SUMP Pedestrian tourist routes in Suceava City, a The Suceava IUDS/SUMP ROP 2014-2020, IP 4.1 € 1,000,000.00 2017-2023 NOT IMPLEMENTED project extracted from the SUMP Municipality Supporting pedestrian trips in Suceava, a The Suceava IUDS ROP 2014-2020, IP 4.1 € 900,000.00 2017-2023 NOT IMPLEMENTED project extracted from the SUMP Municipality Conducting public information campaigns to The Suceava Local budget, IUDS/SUMP promote the concept of "carpooling", a € 10,500.00 2017-2023 40% COMPLETED Municipality URBACT, INTERREG, project extracted from the SUMP Developing a "Tourist Bus� public transport The Suceava IUDS/SUMP Local Budget € 2,000.00 2018-2023 NOT IMPLEMENTED route, a project extracted from the SUMP Municipality Developing a "Tourist Bus� public transport The Suceava IUDS/SUMP Local Budget € 10,000.00 2023-2030 route, a project extracted from the SUMP Municipality Conducting public information campaigns The Suceava IUDS/SUMP regarding the use of public transport, a Local Budget € 35,000.00 2017-2023 NOT IMPLEMENTED Municipality project extracted from the SUMP Construction of goods distribution centers in order to reduce the volumes of freight traffic The Suceava Local budget, Private 2020-2023/2023- IUDS/SUMP € 250,000.00 NOT IMPLEMENTED in residential areas, a project extracted from Municipality investment 2030 the SUMP Reorganizing the vehicle access routes with a NOT IMPLEMENTED - bypass maximum total authorized mass of more than The Suceava Local budget, URBACT 2017-2023/2023- IUDS/SUMP € 30,000.00 route 1 in use only for heavy 3.5 tonnes, a project extracted from the Municipality III 2030 SUMP traffic 73 Conducting road education campaigns The Suceava Local budget, URBACT IUDS/SUMP addressed to young people, a project € 3,500.00 2017-2023 NOT IMPLEMENTED Municipality INTERREG extracted from the SUMP Conducting road education campaigns addressed to all categories of traffic The Suceava Local budget, URBACT IUDS € 3,500.00 2017-2023 NOT IMPLEMENTED participants (drivers, pedestrians, cyclists), a Municipality INTERREG project extracted from the SUMP Arrangement of outdoor playgrounds in The Suceava IUDS Local Budget € 120,000.00 2017-2020 Completed in 2 locations preschools Municipality Rehabilitation of spaces for public use in neighborhoods with disadvantaged The Suceava ROP 2014-2020, IP IUDS communities (green areas, public squares, € 375,000.00 2019-2021 NOT IMPLEMENTED Municipality 4.3, IP 9.1 squares, small parks, playgrounds, sports fields, etc.) The Suceava IUDS Building a day center for the elderly Local budget, NLDP € 520,000.00 2018-2021 NOT IMPLEMENTED Municipality Creating a day and night shelter for homeless The Suceava IUDS Local budget, NLDP € 480,000.00 2018-2021 NOT IMPLEMENTED people Municipality The Suceava IUDS Rehabilitating and modernizing social housing ROP 2014-2020, PA 9 € 1,800,000.00 2019-2023 NOT IMPLEMENTED Municipality The Suceava HCOP, Private funds, IUDS School for all children in Suceava € 600,000.00 2018-2021 NOT IMPLEMENTED Municipality Local budget HCOP, Local budget, Support center for children whose parents are The Suceava IUDS Cooperation € 300,000.00 2018-2020 NOT IMPLEMENTED abroad Municipality programmes NOT IMPLEMENTED - end of HCOP, Local budget, The Suceava 2021: at the opening the IUDS Children and family counseling center Cross-border € 300,000.00 2018-2020 Municipality Multifunctional Center Arta cooperation programs Ițcani “Laurenția Ulici� Regional Sociomedical The Suceava IUDS ROP 2014-2020, PA 8 € 3,000,000.00 2018-2021 NOT IMPLEMENTED Recovery Complex Municipality Construction of rental housing for young The Suceava State budget, local IUDS people (ANL) in the area of 1 Decembrie 1918 € 3,100,000.00 2017-2020 100% COMPLETED Municipality budget Blvd. Construction/rehabilitation/extension of an The Suceava IUDS educational facility for preschoolers in the ROP 2014-2020, IP 4.4 € 620,000.00 2019-2023 NOT IMPLEMENTED Municipality Obcini neighborhood 74 Building a Kindergarten in the Burdujeni Sat The Suceava UNDER IMPLEMENTATION - IUDS ROP 2014-2020, IP 4.4 € 810,000.00 2019-2022 neighborhood in Suceava Municipality completed: 50% Construction/modernization of a kindergarten The Suceava UNDER IMPLEMENTATION - IUDS ROP 2014-2020, IP 4.4 € 680,000.00 2019-2023 in the central area of Suceava Municipality completed: 40% ROP 2014-2020, Arrangement of dining areas/mini cafeterias The Suceava IUDS Priority Axis 9, Local € 200,000.00 2018-2023 NOT IMPLEMENTED in the secondary schools Municipality budget, NLDP ROP 2014-2020, Construction/Development of sports halls at The Suceava IUDS Priority Axis 9, Local € 3,000,000.00 2017-2023 NOT IMPLEMENTED school level Municipality budget, NLDP ROP 2014-2020, Modernization of classrooms, computer and The Suceava UNDER IMPLEMENTATION - IUDS Priority Axis 9, Local € 2,000,000.00 2017-2023 science laboratories in secondary schools Municipality completed: 10% budget, NLDP Equipping and modernizing secondary schools ROP 2014-2020, with equipment in order to obtain the The Suceava UNDER IMPLEMENTATION - IUDS Priority Axis 9, Local € 2,000,000.00 2017-2023 approval from the Inspectorate of Emergency Municipality completed: 15% budget, NLDP Situations ROP 2014-2020, Increasing the school space by loft conversion The Suceava IUDS Priority Axis 9, Local € 2,000,000.00 2017-2023 NOT IMPLEMENTED of a number of school facilities in Suceava Municipality budget, NLDP Improving the educational infrastructure by NOT IMPLEMENTED - under consolidating, rehabilitating and modernizing The Suceava IUDS ROP 2014-2020, IP 4.5 € 686,000.00 2019-2023 technical and financial the Food Industry Technical College in Municipality Suceava evaluation/Axis 4.5 Improving the educational infrastructure by The Suceava Under implementation - IUDS consolidating, rehabilitating and modernizing ROP 2014-2020, IP 4.5 € 690,000.00 2019-2023 Municipality completed: 20% the “Petru Mușat� Technical College Improving the educational infrastructure by The Suceava IUDS consolidating, rehabilitating and modernizing ROP 2014-2020, IP 4.5 € 640,000.00 2019-2023 NOT IMPLEMENTED Municipality the “Samuil Isopescu� Technical College NOT IMPLEMENTED - under Rehabilitation and modernization of the The Suceava IUDS Local budget, NLDP € 1,500,000.00 2018-2020 technical and financial "Petru Rareș" National College in Suceava Municipality evaluation/Axis 4.5 Annual event for awarding Olympic students The Suceava IUDS Local Budget € 42,000.00 2017-2023 IMPLEMENTED from Suceava Municipality The Suceava IUDS Teacher training for remedial education HCOP, Local budget € 20,000.00 2017-2023 NOT IMPLEMENTED Municipality 75 Equipping and modernizing the Suceava The Suceava IUDS ROP 2014-2020, PA 8 € 700,000.00 2019-2021 NOT IMPLEMENTED Ambulance Service Municipality Construction of sanitary structures in the The Suceava IUDS ROP 2014-2020, PA 9 € 2,000,000.00 2019-2021 NOT IMPLEMENTED peripheral neighborhoods Municipality Romania-Ukraine Modernization of school medical/dental The Suceava IUDS cross-border € 680,000.00 2018-2020 NOT IMPLEMENTED offices Municipality cooperation program HCOP, Local budget, The Suceava IUDS Education for health - education for life Cross-border € 400,000.00 2017-2020 NOT IMPLEMENTED Municipality cooperation programs "Friend, you abandon me?" Friend, you The Suceava Local budget, Private IUDS € 100,000.00 2017-2018 NOT IMPLEMENTED abandon me? Municipality funds The Suceava ROP 2014- 2020, IP UNDER IMPLEMENTATION - IUDS “Arta� - Ițcani multifunctional center € 1,250,000.00 2019-2021 Municipality 4.3 completed: 40% Revitalization of the urban public space in The Suceava ROP 2014- 2020, IP UNDER IMPLEMENTATION - IUDS € 1,280,000.00 2017-2023 Suceava Municipality 4.2, Local budget completed: 30% Local budget, ROP Rehabilitation and modernization of the The Suceava Completed - 2; under IUDS 2014-2020, IP 9.1, € 600,000.00 2017-2023 Suceava markets infrastructure Municipality implementation - 2 Local budget, EEA Modernization/Development of new The Suceava IUDS Local Budget € 1,000,000.00 2017-2020 Implemented - 4 locations playgrounds in all neighborhoods of Suceava Municipality The Suceava ROP 2014- 2020, PA UNDER IMPLEMENTATION - IUDS Extension of the video monitoring system € 2,400,000.00 2017-2020 Municipality 4.1 completed: 50% The Suceava Swiss-Romanian IUDS Modernization of the skating rink in Suceava € 200,000.00 2019-2021 NOT IMPLEMENTED Municipality cooperation program The Suceava IUDS Promotion of local traditional products Local Budget € 20,000.00 2018 50% COMPLETED Municipality Capitalizing on the Suceava historical The Suceava IUDS monument of the Royal Court for the local, ROP 2014- 200, IP 5.1 € 12,700,500.00 2019-2023 NOT IMPLEMENTED - FS phase Municipality regional and national tourist circuit The Suceava Local budget, Private IUDS Suceava Citadel Marathon € 70,000.00 2018-2023 NOT IMPLEMENTED Municipality funds Knowing and promoting the customs and The Suceava Local budget, Private IUDS € 10,000.00 2018-2023 NOT IMPLEMENTED traditions in Bucovina Municipality funds The International Folklore Festival "In the The Suceava Local budget, Private IUDS € 100,000.00 2018-2023 NOT IMPLEMENTED citadel of Suceava" Municipality funds 76 Romania-Ukraine The Suceava cross-border IUDS Promoting the land of Bukovina € 121,000.00 2018-2021 NOT IMPLEMENTED Municipality cooperation programme The Suceava Local budget, Central IUDS Art Museum in Suceava € 16,000.00 2018-2019 NOT IMPLEMENTED Municipality budget Schedule of local cultural/thematic/economic The Suceava IMPLEMENTED - SUCEAVA CITY IUDS Local Budget € 31,800.00 2017-2019 events Municipality APP The Suceava IUDS Promotion of Suceava, the capital of Bukovina Local Budget € 52,000.00 2017-2019 50% completed Municipality Creating and promoting a local tourist brand, The Suceava IUDS Local Budget € 20,000.00 2017-2019 100% completed integrated with the Bukovina brand Municipality The Suceava IUDS Creating thematic tourist circuits Local Budget € 10,000.00 2018-2019 NOT IMPLEMENTED Municipality The Suceava IUDS Organizing public awareness campaigns Local Budget € 20,000.00 2017-2023 NOT IMPLEMENTED Municipality Development of a recreational area - The Suceava IUDS ROP 2014-2020, IP 4.2 € 1,000,000.00 2019-2023 NOT IMPLEMENTED Teodoreni Monastery Hill Municipality Development of green/recreational areas in The Suceava ROP 2014- 2020, IP IUDS € 2,460,000.00 2019-2023 NOT IMPLEMENTED Suceava Municipality 4.2 Arrangement of the Tătărași recreational area The Suceava IUDS Local Budget € 1,370,000.00 2017-2019 100% COMPLETED in Suceava Municipality The Suceava Local budget, Central IUDS Building a Multipurpose Hall/Sports Complex € 12,500,000.00 2020-2023 NOT IMPLEMENTED - FS phase Municipality budget Redevelopment of the sports courts and The Suceava IUDS Local Budget € 2,100,000.00 2018-2023 NOT IMPLEMENTED facilities in Suceava Municipality Multipurpose/sports complex, Ițcani The Suceava UNDER IMPLEMENTATION - IUDS Local budget, ROP € 1,200,000.00 2019-2023 Swimming Pool Municipality completed: 10% Updating the Sustainable Energy Action Plan The Suceava IUDS (SEAP) to include the study on the energy Local budget, Interreg € 18,700.00 2020-2023 NOT IMPLEMENTED Municipality efficiency of public and residential buildings Local Action Plan for the implementation of Local budget, URBACT the use of electric vehicles, including for The Suceava III, INTERREG, IUDS/SUMP € 20,000.00 2017-2023 NOT IMPLEMENTED private companies, a project extracted from Municipality Norwegian Financial the SUMP Mechanism 77 Adaptation of urban taxi transport regulations Local budget, in order to stimulate the purchase of The Suceava URBACT, INTERREG, IUDS/SUMP € 10,000.00 2017-2019 IMPLEMENTED electric/hybrid vehicles by taxi service Municipality Norwegian Financial providers, a project extracted from the SUMP Mechanism Performing an energy audit at the level of The Suceava Interreg Europe, Local IUDS € 52,000.00 2017-2019 NOT IMPLEMENTED public buildings in Suceava Municipality budget The Suceava Local budget, Central IUDS Drawing up a Tourism Development Strategy € 32,000.00 2017-2019 NOT IMPLEMENTED Municipality budget Drafting a Multiannual Plan for the necessary works for the maintenance of the The Suceava IUDS pedestrian/street network, prioritizing by Local budget, URBACT € 60,000.00 2017-2023 NOT IMPLEMENTED Municipality area, complexity and necessary financial resources, a project extracted from the SUMP Drafting a Multiannual Plan for the necessary works for maintenance of the The Suceava IUDS pedestrian/street network, prioritizing by Local budget, URBACT € 30,000.00 2024-2030 Municipality area, complexity and necessary financial resources, a project extracted from the SUMP Regulation of the supply logistics, a project The Suceava 2017-2023/2023- IUDS/SUMP Urbact III € 50,000.00 NOT IMPLEMENTED extracted from the SUMP Municipality 2030 Development of a computer application Local budget, EEA, The Suceava IUDS/SUMP providing real-time information on traffic Norwegian Financial € 22,000.00 2020-2023 NOT IMPLEMENTED Municipality problems, a project extracted from SUMP Mechanism Drafting an urban parking policy, a project The Suceava Local budget, URBACT IUDS/SUMP € 100,000.00 2017-2019 IMPLEMENTED extracted from the SUMP Municipality INTERREG Development and implementation of regulations on the introduction of traffic The Suceava Local budget, URBACT IUDS/SUMP € 70,000.00 2017-2023 NOT IMPLEMENTED speed restrictions in vulnerable areas, a Municipality INTERREG project extracted from the SUMP Drafting and implementation of regulations on the introduction of traffic speed The Suceava Local budget, URBACT IUDS/SUMP € 30,000.00 2023-2030 NOT IMPLEMENTED restrictions in vulnerable areas, a project Municipality INTERREG extracted from the SUMP Drafting and implementation of regulations regarding the public utility services The Suceava IUDS/SUMP Local Budget € 10,000.00 2017-2019 NOT IMPLEMENTED implementation program, a project extracted Municipality from the SUMP 78 Conclusion of a public service contract according to Regulation (EC) No 1370/2007 The Suceava IUDS/SUMP Local Budget € 30,000.00 2017 100% COMPLETED for public passenger transport, a project Municipality extracted from the SUMP The Suceava ROP 2014- 2020, PA IUDS Wi-Fi internet networks in public places € 35,000.00 2019-2020 20 % completed Municipality 4.2/9.1 The Suceava IUDS Creating a single office for citizens Local Budget € 34,000.00 2018 NOT IMPLEMENTED Municipality Decentralization of the activity of the The Suceava IUDS Local Budget € 200,000.00 2018-2021 40% completed Municipality at neighborhood level Municipality Modernization of the services offered by the The Suceava UNDER IMPLEMENTATION - IUDS ACOP, PA 2 € 1,000,000.00 2018-2023 Suceava Municipality Municipality completed: 40% Functional reorganization of the Suceava The Suceava IUDS Local Budget € 10,000.00 2018-2020 NOT IMPLEMENTED Municipality Municipality Ensuring the functioning of the internal The Suceava IUDS/SUMP structure with responsibilities for monitoring Local Budget € 58,800.00 2017-2023 NOT IMPLEMENTED Municipality the implementation of Suceava City SUMP Updating the Green Spaces Register, including The Suceava IUDS regulations and solutions for preserving and Local Budget € 30,000.00 2017-2018 IMPLEMENTED Municipality developing the green spaces Approval of the Local Urban Regulation under The Suceava NOT IMPLEMENTED - in the IUDS Local Budget € 5,000.00 2017 the PUG Municipality approval phase Carrying out an analysis/study regarding the impact of the development of the peri-urban The Suceava IUDS Local Budget € 50,000.00 2018 NOT IMPLEMENTED area from a housing point of view on the Municipality development of Suceava City Drafting the acoustic zoning plan of Suceava The Suceava IUDS Local Budget € 20,000.00 2018-2019 NOT IMPLEMENTED City Municipality € 244,669,600.00 Construction of a road that will connect the two urban bodies of the Suceava city (located The Suceava Local budget, ROP SUMP € 15,670,000.00 2024-2030 on both sides of the Suceava river), including Municipality 2014-2020 a bridge over the Suceava river The Suceava Local budget, national SUMP Building the ring road- East side € 22,500,000.00 2024-2030 Municipality budget 79 Planting green vegetation lines (alignments of trees and shrubs) along the main arterial The Suceava Local Budget, ROP SUMP € 500,000.00 2020-2023 roads in order to reduce CO2 emissions and Municipality 2014-2020, PA 4.1 pollution generated by road traffic The Suceava Local budget, ROP SUMP Purchase of electric buses - 30 pcs € 12,000,000.00 2020-2023 Municipality 2014-2020, PA 4.1 The Suceava Local budget, ROP SUMP Infrastructure for local public transport € 6,700,000.00 2017-2019 Municipality 2014-2020, PA 4.1 Traffic management system for public The Suceava Local budget, ROP SUMP € 7,300,000.00 2020-2023 transport Municipality 2014-2020, PA 4.1 Developing a "Tourist bus� public transport The Suceava SUMP Local Budget € 10,000.00 2020-2023 route Municipality Developing a cable transport system (cable The Suceava SUMP Local Budget € 3,200,000.00 2023-2030 car) Municipality Conducting public information campaigns The Suceava Local budget, SUMP € 55,000.00 2020-2030 regarding the use of public transport Municipality URBACT, Interreg Local budget, ROP The Suceava SUMP Developing a network of bicycle lanes 2014-2020, PA 4.1, € 2,300,000.00 2020-2023 Municipality EEA Local budget, ROP The Suceava SUMP Bike-sharing system 2014-2020, PA 4.1, € 250,000.00 2020-2023 Municipality EEA Local budget, ROP Arrangement of priority areas for pedestrians The Suceava SUMP 2014-2020, PA 4.1, € 5,000,000.00 2020-2023 (shared space/residential area regulations) Municipality EEA Local budget, ROP Development of the necessary infrastructure The Suceava 2014-2020, PA 4.1, SUMP for the use of electric and hybrid electric € 750,000.00 2020-2030 Municipality EEA, Norwegian vehicles Financial Mechanism Conducting public information campaigns to The Suceava Local budget, SUMP € 21,000.00 2020-2030 promote the concept of “carpooling" Municipality URBACT, Interreg Implementation of traffic management The Suceava Local budget, ROP SUMP € 2,400,000.00 2020-2023 system Municipality 2014-2020, PA 4.1 Arrangement of Park & Ride collective parking The Suceava Local budget, ROP SUMP € 750,000.00 2020-2023 lots Municipality 2014-2020, PA 4.1 80 ANNEX 2. ORGANIZATIONAL CHART OF THE SUCEAVA MUNICIPALITY Source: The Suceava Municipality (http://primariasv.ro/portal/suceava/portal.nsf/20A7C4FE9838DAEBC2257BEC00239055/$FILE/Org%20Primarie%20HCL%20303%20din%2022%20octombrie%202019%20cu%20nume.pdf) 81