Budget expenditure will be reduced in 2026 by 3.367 billion lei following the implementation of the law on the adoption of measures to increase the financial capacity of administrative-territorial units, as well as to amend and supplement certain normative acts, the draft of which was published on Tuesday evening on the website of the Ministry of Development, Public Works and Administration (MDLPA).
According to the explanatory memorandum to the draft, in the period 2027-2030 the reduction in budget expenditure will amount to approximately 5.766 billion lei annually, with the five-year average standing at 5.286 billion lei.
The quoted source mentions that the draft normative act will contribute to increasing budget revenues at local level by clarifying and expanding the tax base for building, land and vehicle taxes, including for illegal constructions, increasing the tax by 100% for buildings constructed without authorisation for a period of five years, publishing lists of taxpayers without arrears as an incentive for voluntary compliance, and at central level by eliminating certain tax exemptions deemed unsustainable, for example for agricultural cooperatives, and assigning tax receivables to specialised entities in order to improve recovery efficiency.
Public expenditure will also decrease as a result of staff reductions, namely 6,102 personal adviser positions, a 25% reduction in positions within prefectures, a 30% reduction in the maximum number of positions at the level of administrative-territorial units and a reduction in local police staff depending on the number of inhabitants.
The reduction in public expenditure will also be supported by capping the salary of the President of National Authority for the Regulation of Community Public Utility Services
(ANRSC), with estimated savings of 190,812 lei per year, limiting salaries in MDLPA subordinate institutions through salary grids, reducing the number of members of the boards of directors of the National Agency for Cadastre and Real Estate Publicity (ANCPI) and the National Housing Agency (ANL), with estimated savings of 410,444 lei per year, and cutting administrative costs, including funding the expenses of military centres from the state budget through the budget of the Ministry of National Defence, which will reduce pressure on local budgets.
The normative act will also contribute to improving the efficiency of public administration through simplifying decentralisation by eliminating bureaucratic steps, more flexible regulations regarding the inventory and transfer of public and private state-owned assets and those of administrative-territorial units, the introduction of mandatory rotation for sensitive public service positions, which will help combat politicisation and stagnation, the introduction of multiannual evaluations and competency-based assessments for civil servants, and allowing part-time work in two different authorities, which will increase flexibility and efficiency.
At the same time, this law will help improve the collection of fiscal revenues by extending enforcement measures to the allowances of personal assistants and the minimum inclusion income, starting in 2026, through the interconnection of fiscal systems such as PatrimVen and General Directorate for Driving Licences and Vehicle Registration (DGPCIV) and the publication of lists of individual and corporate debtors as a form of public pressure for compliance.
The substantiation note further points out that the normative act will ensure greater local autonomy and control, as local authorities will receive decision-making powers over gambling activities, the possibility to introduce additional local taxes for these activities, the exclusive right to approve the organisational structure of public libraries and through the establishment of the Local Regeneration Fund, of up to 5% of local revenues.
The Ministry of Development, Public Works and Administration placed the draft law on administrative measures to increase financial capacity and improve the efficiency of central and local public administration into public decision-making transparency on Tuesday evening.
The proposed measures, which were debated in the previous period, support decentralisation and the financial sustainability of local authorities and lead to the strengthening of central and local public administration and the improvement of public services for citizens, Minister of Development Cseke Attila said, according to a press release.
The normative act provides for the efficiency of local and central public administration, social fairness in the collection of taxes and duties and improved financial discipline.
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