"That bill does not contain a step towards decentralisation. The only thing growing is the illusion that citizens will get more money," Ivica Racan told the press.
He endorsed legislative amendments whereby income tax revenue would be transferred in full to local units, saying the same should be done with part of profit tax as well. "This is money earned solely through the development of cities and municipalities and it is here it should stay, because otherwise development is discouraged."
The Zagreb government claimed earlier that the amendments would cost Zagreb 800 million kuna, the amount that local units would get in the 2007 budget.
Asked if the government would have proposed that had the SDP not been the ruling party in the capital, Racan said political reasons had likely played a part in this but that the SDP accepted this challenge.