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P l a n n i n g a n d l o c a l g o v e r n a n c e P r o j e c t vol. 3 • no. 7 • September 2016

Rr. “Dervish Hima” 3 Kullat pranë St. “Q. Stafa”, Kulla Nr. 1, Apt. 91, Kati 10, Tirana, Albania • Tel: +355 44 50 41 50 • www.plgp.al

In this issueAdvancing Decentralization and Strengthening LGU Capacities 1

Decentralization Reform Update 4

New Law ‘On Local Self-Governance’ Brings Significant Reforms 5

Territorial Strategy Process Launched in Peer-Sharing Event 6

Civic Involvement Provides Valuable Input into General Local Territorial Planning Process 7

Water Utility Transition Plans to Improve Services 8

Regional Workshops on Water Sector Reforms 8

Continues on page 2.

In the coming weeks, USAID’s Planning and Local Gov-ernance Project will conclude its fifth year of work

supporting Albania’s efforts to advance decentralization and strengthen governance at the local level. As we be-gin the sixth and final year of the project, it is time to take stock—to review our progress thus far, outline planned initiatives for the coming year and apprise you of some changes in our leadership.

In April 2016, Peter Clavelle, Chief of Party since Proj-ect’s inception in 2012, returned to the U.S., where he will continue his involvement with the project as a con-sultant and advisor. During his final weeks in Albania, Peter received many tokens of appreciation and awards from partner municipalities in recognition of his stew-ardship of the project and its impact at both the local and

ADVANCING DECENTRALIZATION AND STRENGTHENING LGU CAPACITIES

Editorial

national levels. During Peter’s five-year tenure as Proj-ect’s leader, the project worked in close partnership with the Government of Albania (GoA) to advance and imple-ment a decentralization strategy, legislation, policies and reforms, as well as with officials and citizens from a dozen local government units (LGUs) to reap the rewards of decentralization by strengthening capacities for good governance and effective municipal management.

Peter’s leadership, coupled with the expertise and hard work of the Project team, has helped Albania make sig-nificant strides toward improving the quality of lives in communities across the country. Now, Kevin McLaughlin, who served as Project’s home office Senior Technical Advisor for the last three years, has assumed the Chief of

Municipal Councilor Trainings Build Local Capacities 9

Promoting Transparency in Local Budgeting 9

Korça’s “One-Stop Shop” Makes Services Citizen-Centric 10

Using GIS to Support Property Tax Collection 11

Improved Access to Information Means Improved Local Governance 12

Writing to Win 12

CBS Strengthen Civic Engagement 14

U.S. Government Officials Visit Partner Municipalities 15

Outreach 16

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The USAID Project has worked

actively with the Gov-ernment of Albania to facilitate significant changes to the le-

gal and philosophical frameworks for de-

centralization and local governance in Albania.

AdvAncing decentrAlizAtion And Strengthening lgU cApAcitieSContinued from page 1.

Editorial

Party role. Kevin comes to USAID Project with more than eight years of experience in Albania, as Project Officer and Chief of Party for USAID’s Municipal Infrastructure Project (in the early 2000s) but also as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Lezhe from 1994 to 1996.

The USAID Planning and Local Governance Project has worked actively with the Government of Albania (GoA) to facilitate significant changes to the legal and philosophi-cal frameworks for decentralization and local governance in Albania. We have also worked closely with our partner municipalities to improve service delivery, build sound man-agement practices and support good governance. Over these 5 years, sig-nificant progress has been made, some at the national level (benefiting all municipalities) and some at the lo-cal level (benefiting project partners specifically). The Project’s notewor-thy advancements include:

• WithsignificantsupportfromUS-AID, the GoA adopted a National Strategy for Decentralization and Local Governance that will serve as a roadmap for decentralization efforts over the next five years.

• In support of the National Strat-egy for Decentralization, USAID worked in partnership with the GoA to develop and shepherd a new Organic Law—enacted in early 2016—on the Organization and Func-tioning of Local Governments that establishes the roles and responsibilities of municipal governments in Albania.

• Toensurethefairandequitabledistributionoffundsfrom the GoA, we undertook an extensive analysis of the Unconditional Grant Formula and submitted rec-ommended changes to the GoA.

• Insupportofincreasedmunicipalfinanceandtaxca-pacities, the USAID Project has provided up-to-date, multi-functional information and communication tech-nology (ICT) improvements to enable implementation of good management practices. Specifically, our part-ner municipalities have installed and been trained to use the Tax Administration Information System (TAIS) and the Finance Administration Information System (FAIS) as well as a geographic information system

(GIS) platform. Most partner municipalities also have an eService portal where citizens can learn about mu-nicipal activities, communicate with public officials and obtain certain services.

• WorkingwithKorça,weintroducedaOne-StopShop(OSS) that enables the municipality to deliver sub-stantially more efficient and responsive administrative services to citizens—both in the city itself and in the

outlying Administrative Units. In the coming year, the Project will extend the OSS model to three additional municipalities to integrate their ad-ministrative service delivery seam-lessly as well.

• The USAID Project has sup-ported five model municipalities in the preparation of their General Lo-cal Territorial Plans (GLTPs). And, in anticipation of the nationwide General Local Territorial Planning effort, Project assisted (and contin-ues to assist) the Minister of Urban Development/ National Territorial Planning Agency in building the ter-ritorial planning capacities of local governments throughout Albania. For example, we have held a number of educational programs on territorial planning and have distributed a com-prehensive Planning Toolkit to doz-ens of LGUs.

• Inanefforttobuildcitizenparticipationandinvolve-ment in civic decision-making, the USAID Project as-sisted each partner municipality in establishing a Citi-zen Advisory Panel (CAP). Over time, the CAPs have gained credibility and momentum, and they now regu-larly consult with municipal officials on issues such as taxes, annual budgets and city development. During the last year, we have begun a collaboration with UN Women to implement Community-Based Scorecards in selected municipalities. These are a tool to support good governance and local accountability through in-clusive participation of interests throughout the com-munity and communication with local officials.

• Inresponsetorecentwatersectorreforms,theUSAIDProject has worked with several partner municipali-ties on their Water Utility Transition Plans. Thus far, we have completed plans for Elbasan, Lushnje and

Continues on page 2.

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If the challenges of un-leashing the full poten-tial of decentralized and democratic local gov-

ernance are effectively met the quality of lives of Albanians wills improve: local services will be bet-ter, local economies will be stronger, and local

democracy will flourish.

AdvAncing decentrAlizAtion And Strengthening lgU cApAcitieSContinued from page 2.

Editorial

Fier municipalities and we are continuing to work with other local government units.

• Theprojectprovidedtrainingtowaterutilityofficialsin many partner municipalities and some non-partner LGUs on environmental standards and legal frame-works that will help them better serve their citizens.

• Ourtaxationandfinanceexpertshaveprovidedinten-sive, ongoing technical assistance to officials in our partner municipalities, sharing knowledge and best practices that will allow them to improve property and business tax ad-ministration and collection, municipal budgeting and fiscal package preparation, and finan-cial management.

• Projecthasprovidedmunicipalcouncilors in all partner munici-palities with the opportunity to attend a comprehensive train-ing session on the roles and re-sponsibilities of councilors and the current legal framework for local governance.

• In addition to trainings devel-oped for mayors, municipal councilors, citizens and officials from our partner municipalities, we have offered a number of national conferences, for exam-ple, to bring counterparts from around the country together to learn from experts, share best practices and build their professional networks.

As we begin the final year of the project, we will con-tinue our efforts to actualize decentralization, promote best practices in local governance and, as a result, im-prove the quality of lives in communities throughout the country. We will continue to direct our work at both the national and local levels and will focus on the following areas:

• Toachievethepromiseofterritorialreform,otherde-centralization reforms—particularly in the area of fis-cal decentralization—are needed. Currently, local gov-ernments do not have sufficient financial resources to fulfill their mandates to provide adequate services to their citizens, promote economic growth and improve quality of life. As a follow-on to the 2015 enactment of

a revised Unconditional Grant Formula, the Project is working diligently with the Ministry of Finance to fin-ish development of Albania’s first-ever Local Govern-ment Finances, Law which is aimed at 1) resolving the historical unpredictability in GoA-to-LGU transfers, and 2) addressing the ongoing underfunding of mu-nicipalities.

• Wewillcontinueourwork(begunin2015)supportingfive model municipalities to pre-pare and adopt their General Local Territorial Plans and provide guid-ance to other partners as they be-gin working on their own plans.

• Having laid the groundwork forimproved property tax collection, we will work with partner munici-palities to establish territorial data-bases and implement their property tax action plans.

•We are currently working withwater utilities in several partner municipalities to assist them with their post-TAR transition plans. As these plans are completed, we will continue to provide guidance in the development of the utilities’ five-year performance improvement plans.

Since 2012, the USAID Project, working in concert with other in-ternational partners, has helped Albania advance the decentraliza-tion process. Most of the building

blocks required to strengthen local governance are now in place. The one notable exception is the Law on Local GovernmentFinances.Hopefully,thatLawonLocalGov-ernment Finances will be adopted by the end of 2016. In the final year of the Project, our focus will be to support the implementation of these decentralization reforms and to continue efforts to strengthen the capacity of local governments.

This work did not begin, nor will it end, with this Project. The challenges of unleashing the full potential of decen-tralized and democratic local governance will remain for years to come. If those challenges are effectively met the quality of lives of Albanians will improve: local services will be better, local economies will be stronger, and local democracy will flourish.

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decentrAlizAtion reform UpdAte: USAid SUpportS effortS towArd fiScAl decentrAlizAtion

Local Governance and Fiscal Decentralization

In recent years, Albania has made substantive progress in developing the legal and policy framework needed to

advance decentralization. The 2015 Territorial and Ad-ministrative Reform (TAR) in and of itself ranks as one of the highest profile, potentially impactful reforms enacted by the Government of Albania (GoA).

The TAR, coupled with other recent decentralization re-forms, holds the promise of improved governance—spe-cifically, more effective and efficient public administra-tion and service delivery and more balanced territorial and socio-economic development.

Yet, to deliver these improvements, thorough fiscal de-centralization reform is needed: Local governments must have access to sufficient resources and be empowered with sufficient authority if they are to fulfill both their GoA-mandated responsibilities and citizens’ expecta-tions. Currently, this is not the case: The efforts of Al-bania’s local governments continue to be hindered by in-adequate and unpredictable transfers of funds from the central government and also by restraints imposed on their ability to generate additional local-level revenues.

With decentralization reforms now in place, the most im-portant challenge facing both levels of government is the need for thorough fiscal decentralization reform in the form of a comprehensive Local Government Finance Law (LGFL). An LGFL would:

• Addressthehistoricalunder-fundingoflocalgovern-ments and provide municipalities with both the re-sources and the authority to improve service delivery and fulfill the responsibilities with which they have been entrusted.

• Address the unpredictability of local government fi-nances (transfers, own-source revenues and borrow-ing), which results in uninformed, unproductive bud-get planning and jeopardizes municipalities’ ability to execute their plans and ensure service delivery.

• Ensureadequacy,fairnessandtransparencyintheal-location of intergovernmental transfers by taking into consideration differences in fiscal capacity across lo-cal governments.

• Enablelocalgovernmentstomakefulluseoftheirfis-cal powers and ensure prudent and sustainable fiscal policy.

• Assistmunicipalitiesinmaintainingfiscaldisciplineatthe local level and ensure that municipalities are able

Assistance in drafting Albania’s first-ever comprehensive Local Government Finance Law

to allocate and manage their financial resources ef-fectively and efficiently.

• Allow for increased transparency, accountability andcitizen involvement in decision-making related to local taxes and fees and the ways in which taxpayer money will be spent.

• Ensure regular and open dialogue and consultationsbetween the two levels of government.

Recognizing the challenges local governments face, the Ministry of Finance (MoF) requested that USAID pro-vide support in bringing the country’s intergovernmental finance system into alignment with its new local gov-ernment structure. In particular, the MoF asked for as-sistance in drafting Albania’s first-ever comprehensive Local Government Finance Law.

Building on the provisions of the GoA’s Decentralization Strategy, the Public Finance Management Strategy, the new Law on Local Self-Governance and the 2015-2017 National Economic Reform Program, USAID has devel-oped a policy paper with key recommendations for the LGFL.

The goal of the paper is to increase awareness and un-derstanding of key fiscal and financial management is-sues and how they might be addressed through the Local Government Finance Law. With the policy paper com-plete, the next step has been to work with the MoF to develop a discussion draft of the LGFL that can be dis-cussed, revised and finalized by the MoF-chaired consul-tative Working Group.

USAID believes that for Albania to achieve effective decentralization, fiscal decentralization reform must achieve an equivalent level of thoroughness and impact and we are hopeful that the GoA understands the urgen-cy of adopting the LGFL. Local governments in their first full year post-TAR are in a precarious financial position:

The demand for local services is far out-stripping the availability of financial resources. If the TAR is to be suc-cessful, this gap must be closed quickly.

Decentralization reforms hold the promise of improving the efficiency and effectiveness not only of local gov-ernment, but also of the Albanian state as whole. The absence of definitive action in the area of fiscal decen-tralization will certainly translate into a lost opportunity for Albanian citizens who want and deserve improved services and good and efficient governance.

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new lAw ‘on locAl Self-governAnce’ BringS SignificAnt reformS

Local Governance and Decentralization

Albania’s new Law on Local Self-Governance, enacted in January

2016, is a major political and legal milestone. It transfers responsibilities for the services most vital to people’s lives from the national government to local governments, and thus aligns Al-bania in a more democratic direction. In addition, local services must meet minimum standards of performance and—for the first time—municipali-ties are required to involve citizens in public decisions.

How did these significant reformscome to be? In part, through the work of USAID, which has a nearly 25-year track record of promoting good governance, decentralization and in-creased accountability in Albania. In this instance, USAID undertook de-velopment of the landmark legislation in collaboration with the Government of Albania (GoA) as it strives to ac-cede to the European Union, which

has specific norms for local self-governance. Further, Albania’s recent territorial reform made legal restructur-ing almost obligatory.

USAID and the Government of Albania officials first

Enactment is a Milestone for Local Governments

agreed on a joint action plan to de-velop a framework for decentraliza-tion. Then, a working group of local and international experts—includ-ing opposition-affiliated elected of-ficials—met regularly for months to assess and evaluate decentralization issues, needs and problems system-atically and to propose recommenda-tions. USAID not only helped to es-tablish and lead the working group, it also provided the background analy-ses needed to fuel the group’s work. Ultimately, these efforts culminated in a national crosscutting strategy that successfully drove the December 2015 passage of landmark legislation for political decentralization and local government reform in the country.

As a result of these intensive and collective efforts, Albania has made progress in its drive toward decen-tralization. “We are grateful for the support provided by USAID,” says

Minister of State for Local IssuesBlediÇuçi.Mr.Çuçiadded that the decentraliza-tion strategy and new law together embody the GoA’s goal “to transform Albania into a model that inspires peace and development in the Balkan region.”

Now with the strategy in place and the new law en-acted, Albania’s 61 LGUs face the challenge of im-plementing their new roles and responsibilities. De-centralization brings gover-nance closer to those being served, yet many munici-

palities lack the funds, capacities and/or civic participa-tion needed to fulfill the law’s promise. USAID is con-tinuing its work with the GoA in the hope of addressing significant barriers to full implementation of the decen-tralization strategy.

Minister of State for Local Issues Bledi Çuçi: “We are

grateful for the support provided by USAID. The decentralization strategy

and new law together embody the GoA’s goal to transform Albania

into a model that inspires peace and development in the Balkan region.”

Cover page of Official Journal with the Law on Local Self-Governance

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territoriAl StrAtegy proceSS lAUnched in peer-ShAring event

Territorial Planning

As a result of the Territorial Administrative Reform, each municipality in Albania is required to develop

a General Local Territorial Plan (GLTP) for its expanded geographic area. Currently 31 municipalities have plans in development: five working directly with USAID and 26 more working with national and international planning firms funded by the Government of Albania. The remain-ing 30 municipalities have not yet started their GLTPs, but will be doing so in the near future.

GLTP development is a major undertaking that requires attention not just to disparate areas of the territory but also to many aspects of land use management, bringing together geographic, financial, and legal considerations. Over the last year, USAID and its experts in spatial and land use planning have supported all 61 of Albania’s mu-nicipalities in the GLTP development process by offering useful technical information and materials to municipal officials responsible for creating the plans. This support has included workshops and conferences, an extensive and detailed planning toolkit and—most recently—best practices based on the experience of five of USAID’s partner municipalities.

In early April 2016, USAID—in conjunction with the Minis-try of Urban Development—convened a workshop where nearly 150 mayors, deputy mayors and planning directors learned firsthand about their counterparts’ experiences developing territorial strategies—the first component of the GLTPs. The five municipalities of Berat, Elbasan,

Fier,Kuçova, andLushnje—allUSAIDpartners—sharedthe knowledge they have gained so far with their peers in other municipalities who had not yet begun this impor-tant first step.

Previous USAID Planning and Local Governance Project Chief of Party Peter Clavelle opened the event by wel-coming the mayors, municipal and national government officials and staff, representatives of civic groups and professionals working with other municipalities, interna-tional donors, and other local stakeholders in attendance. HecalledparticularattentiontoPeaceCorpsVolunteers,many of whom have urban planning background, as a valuable resource available to local governments in de-veloping plans.

Minister of Urban Development Eglantina Gjermeni stat-ed, “The ministry has had a valuable collaborative rela-tionship with USAID in the time since the ministry was established, and the Ministry of Urban Development and the National Territorial Planning Agency together have made full use of USAID’s work with its partners, repli-cating it in the 26 municipalities that the government is currently supporting.” On behalf of his counterparts from all five partner municipalities, Mayor of Elbasan Qazim Sejdini expressed gratitude to USAID and encouraged the audience to embrace the territorial planning process fully and take ownership of it.

The event recognized USAID partner municipalities and celebrated an important milestone: the creation and ap-proval of their territorial strategies while also allowing their peers and other stakeholders to benefit from knowl-edge of their key successes and challenges. Now, with their territorial strategies approved, these five munici-palities are able to move closer to implementation of vital infrastructure projects in their geographic areas.

Urban Development Minister Gjermeni: “Valuable Collaborative Relationship with USAID”

Photos from top left: Minister of Urban Development Eglantina Gjer-meni delivering greeting remarks; a participant from audience mak-ing a question to the panel of experts; publications of USAID Partner Municipalities’ territorial development strategies;

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civic involvement provideS vAlUABle inpUt into generAl locAl territoriAl plAnning proceSS

Territorial Planning

Following the June 2015 Territorial Administrative Re-form, each of Albania’s 61 municipalities must now

create a General Local Territorial Plan (GLTP) that ad-dresses the environmental, social, economic, demo-graphic and infrastructural issues they will face in the coming years. USAID is leading this development pro-cess for several of its partner municipalities—Berat, El-basan,Fier,KuçovaandLushnje—usingmultidisciplinaryteams that bring together the technical, socioeconomic and environmental expertise to address the required components.

The 5 partner municipalities will finalize their draft plans by September, thus allowing sufficient time for USAID to assist the municipalities in navigating the next steps in the process: obtaining approvals, improving their GIS da-tabases and implementing local permitting procedures.So far, the municipalities have made good progress to-ward the deadline: They have completed their legally mandated detailed analyses, including examinations of the territory, a spatial typologies study and a water-front analysis. Draft land-use maps and infrastructure proposals are being prepared and thoroughly discussed with mayors. In addition, the municipalities—with the assistance of USAID and the National Territorial Plan-ning Agency—are coordinating their planning efforts with neighboring municipalities regarding key decisions that

involve more than one municipality.

A key aspect of the GLTP process—as mandated by law—is broad citizen participation and public consultation. US-AID is leading these efforts and, using Citizen Advisory Panels (CAPs) as the foundation of it efforts, has already conducted four rounds of public forums across the five municipalities. The CAPs include civic leaders who are well equipped to offer information and counsel about the future direction of their communities and connected enough to help draw other stakeholders to the events.

As a result, attendees at the meetings included non-CAP citizens, landowners, businesses and representatives of other institutions with specific, targeted interests. In ad-dition, each municipality engages in other types of civic consultation: strategic environmental assessments, dis-cussions with municipal councilors and focus groups with citizens, landowners and businesses in the rural areas.

With the assistance of USAID, the municipalities of Be-rat,Elbasan,Fier,KuçovaandLushnjearemakingsteadyprogress toward completion of their GLTPs while demon-strating best practices in territorial planning. The GLTPs, once completed, will be richer and more appropriately targeted thanks to valuable, in-depth input from a broad range of constituents.

Five Partner LGUs to Finalize Draft Plans Soon

View of public hearings held in Elbasan and Berat to socilit public opinion on GLTPs.

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wAter Utility trAnSition plAnS to improve ServiceS for citizenS

regionAl workShopS on wAter Sector reformS

Local Services

The USAID Project is providing intensive assistance to partner municipalities Lushnje and Fier in the de-

velopment of their water and sewerage transition plans, which are required by the Government of Albania’s re-cently mandated Water Sector Reform Decision. The transition plans address the legal, administrative, proce-dural and operational challenges each municipality faces in serving all citizens in their newly merged urban and rural territories. The plans also constitute the first step as each municipality prepares its comprehensive five-year performance improvement/business plan that will lay out the strategic roadmap for improving utility man-agement and water-bill collection rates, and reducing il-legal connections. Previously, USAID assisted Elbasan

Water supply and sewerage services are one of the most fundamental and critical services provided by

local governments in Albania, but the challenges of fully serving their expanded territories while also complying with water sector reform measures are significant. In ad-dition to creating a transition plan, each municipality will need to create a five-year business plan that addresses the technical, operational and personnel-related realities of managing the water utility within the context of suc-cessful day-to-day financial performance.

municipality with its Territorial Reform-related planning.

USAID recently supported the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, responsible for Albania’s water supply and sewerage services, in organizing and delivering a

Support to Local Officials on Post-Territorial Administrative Reform

View of the regional workshop on water sector reforms organized by USAID in cooperation with the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure in the Municipality of Lezha.

USAID Project Water Expert, Enkelejda Gjinali, (standing) presents the Transition Plan to municipal and water utility officials of Fier.

set of regional workshops on the Government of Alba-nia’s recent Decision on Water Sector Reform. The de-cision calls on water utilities to reorganize in response to the June 2015 Territorial Administrative Reform and aims to improve the delivery of water supply and sewer-age services across Albania.

Together, the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure and USAID implemented four workshops in different parts of the country: Lezha, Pogradec, Tirana and Vlora. Participants included mayors, senior-level municipal of-ficials and water utility directors, and nearly two hundred people across the four sessions learned about their new roles and responsibilities regarding the delivery of water services to both urban and rural areas of their munici-palities. The program also included a feedback compo-nent to allow participants to indicate where they needed support in implementing the water sector reforms. The majority of participants indicated needs in the following areas:

• Technical assistance in preparing and implementing their transition plans;

• Increasing their capacity to oversee utility perfor-mance;

• Ensuring that their utilities are moving toward compli-ance with European Union standards; and

• Achieving the long-term goal of financial self-sustain-ability.

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According to the new Law on Local Self-Governance, municipal coun-

cils have both the authority and the re-sponsibility to represent the citizens of their communities. Their job is to shape the future of their communities by mak-ing local policies and overseeing and monitoring the work of the municipal-ity. As such, it is vital that these munici-pal representatives be sufficiently and properly oriented toward community needs and understand the principles of efficient and effective governance. The last 12 months have brought many changes at the local government level: last summer’s Territorial Administrative Reform, the Government of Albania’s new cross-cutting strategy on decentralization, and, most recently, the Law on Local Self-Governance (see article on page 5). Owing to these changes, it became critical that new and expe-rienced councilors alike under-stand the governance frame-work within which they will operate. In response, USAID experts developed and imple-mented a multi-layered program to help build the councilors’ ca-pacities. First, the USAID team developed a comprehensive Manual on Local Governance that addresses councilors’ official roles and responsibili-

ties as well as the legal framework for local government in areas such as ur-ban planning, taxes, water and sewage, and civic engagement. Once the manual was complete, USAID’s team of experts began a countrywide series of two-day trainings with municipal council mem-bers. Thus far, local councilors in Berat, Durres, Elbasan, Fier, Kamza, Kuçova,Lushnje, Patos, Tirana, Vlora, and Vora have benefited from the USAID Project program, with other municipalities yet to come. In addition to providing a solid grounding in the latest developments in local governance, the trainings served as a forum for community leaders to

share information, learn from one another, deepen their knowledge and skills, and explore important issues. US-AID has received positive feedback about the program from attendees, as well as requests for further training

on local government matters. One recent participant, Mirela Bogdani, Municipal Councilor and Secretary of the Tirana City Council’s Gender Alliance, said, “The training was quite illumi-nating with regard to the Law on Local Governance. USAID’s ex-perts provided one of the most useful trainings the Municipal-

ity of Tirana has ever received to date.”

mUnicipAl coUncilor trAiningS BUild locAl cApAcitieS

Local Governance

Trainings Update Councilors on Recent Developments in Local Governance

The USAID Project has developed an information and communication technology (ICT) platform that offers

municipal finance professionals and citizens the ability to monitor local government unit expenditures more easily than before. Finance staff can now access vital financial data efficiently, saving both time and effort. Further, the platform is publically available, making it accessible to citizens interested in understanding the financial situa-tion in their municipality.

The new applications—Money Mapping and Monitoring Treasury Transactions—developed with the belief that “open governance is good governance,” are intended to encourage accountability and to help citizens increase their knowledge and participation in municipal budget-ing. In May and June 2016, municipal officials, city coun-cil members and interested citizens in six municipalities

promoting trAnSpArency in locAl BUdgetingUSAID Offers New, User-Friendly ICT Applications

(Berat, Elbasan, Fier, Korça, Kuçova and Lushnje) re-ceived the first of several trainings on how to use the applications to track and visualize expenditures.

Miranda Shkëmbi, a Kuçova city council member withextensive financial knowledge, commented that the ap-plications are user-friendly and will be easy for even non-experts to use. Both applications are linked with well-structured databases and contain information about each municipality’s actual budget—including expendi-tures—for 2014 to 2016. The platform also offers a num-ber of articles that analyze and visualize the real bud-gets of the municipalities for each of these years. In the coming months, USAID will conduct trainings with each model municipality to help their financial staff become more proficient in the use of these information and com-munication technology tools.

Municipal Councilor Mirela Bogdani: “ The training

was quite illuminating with regard to the Law on Local

Governance. USAID’s experts provided one of the most useful trainings Tirana Municipality has ever received to date.”

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korçA’S “one-Stop Shop” mAkeS ServiceS citizen-centric

Information and Communication Technology

Korça Pilot Program to Serve as Model for Other LGUs

InKorça, the many administrative pro-cedures that used to require visits to a

variety of offices and departments can now be taken care of through the mu-nicipality’s One-Stop Shop for Citizen Services. The One-Stop Shop (OSS), launched in March 2016 with the sup-port of USAID, allows citizens to ac-cess dozens of different services with a higher level of responsiveness and quality.

Despite the name “One-Stop Shop,” Ko-rça now boasts 13 separate one-stopfacilities: six locations within the city itself and—significantly—in each of Ko-rça’ssevenoutlyingsuburbanandruraladministrative units.

The OSS uses simplified procedures to provide citizen-centric public services that no longer require municipal resi-dents to visit multiple offices and com-ply with time-consuming and frustrat-ingprocesses.Korça’sresidentsaresatisfiedwiththismore user-friendly approach to meeting their needs. “To-day, I went to the One-Stop Shop to submit a request,” saysKorçaresidentAlbanaÇule,“andIfoundafriendlyenvironment. The procedures were easy and simple. I was so pleased!”

Korça’sOSSprovides73servicesfrom11differentmu-nicipal departments including Finance, Local Taxes and Tariffs, Social Protection, Law, Territorial Planning and Development, Contract Management and Human Re-sources. Citizens can obtain building permits, business licenses, and residence verifications from an OSS; the

OSS can also accept service requests, citizen complaints, reports of illegal construction and many other types of citizen inquiries and comments. Finally, citizens are now able to track the status of their requests and even can access certain services through a single web-site.

Korça’sOSSwasdevelopedthroughacollaboration between USAID and the municipality that combined computer-based technologies with human-based administrative processes to create a new, more responsive and more conve-nient approach to delivering local gov-ernment services. USAID developed the OSS information and communication technology application, trained munici-pal staff on workflows and customer service, and created an operations manual for one-stop-shops employees that provides step-by-step instructions

and required response times for each of the available services.

“The One-Stop Shop gives power to the people and pow-ertothemunicipality,”saysMayorofKorçaSotiraqFilo.“It enables all citizens to address all of their requests, complaints, and applications for services in a single lo-cation, and it gives the municipality an important instru-ment for monitoring our work in terms of time, quantity, and quality.”

USAID anticipates that Korça’s responsive,convenient, transpar-ent, and cost-effective OSS will be a model for other municipalities. USAID is currently working with officials in Fier and Berat to bring one-stop-shops to their citizens.

Left: A resident of Ko-rça at the One-Stop-Shop

established with USAID support; Right: Cover page

of the flyer produced for the launch event

Mayor of Korça Sotiraq Filo: “The One-Stop Shop gives power to the people and to the municipality. It enables all citizens to address all of their requests, complaints,

and applications for services in a single location, and it gives the municipality an important instrument for monitoring our work in

terms of time, quantity, and quality.”

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USing giS to SUpport property tAx collection

Information and Communication Technology

Korça Pilot Program to Serve as Model for Other LGUs

Property taxes are a vital source of revenue for Alba-nia’s municipal governments, but current systems for

tax collection and administration are less than adequate, and municipalities are unable to collect the full measure of own-source revenues they are owed as a result. Geo-graphic information system (GIS) tools, however, can help local government units take a critical first step to-ward increasing property tax revenues. Using GIS tools, municipalities can create the functional tax registers needed to enable proper invoicing of their tax bases. Be-cause property taxes are founded on geographic features such as buildings, parcels and agricultural land, GIS tools can be used to gather and map the information that will drive property tax collection. Municipalities can collect

data about what exists on the ground, manage the data within the GIS database, and then use the information for analysis, reporting and transparent decision-making.

To create a complete, up-to-date tax/property register, a municipality must first have an effective address system to identify properties and, thus, the location of taxpay-ers. This enables the creation of a property database that supports enforcement of the tax collection process. In bothKorça andFier, tax administratorshaveusedGIStools to create property inventories, which they are cur-rently updating and enlarging to cover the newly estab-lished administrative territories. Their experiences offer valuable lessons and best practices for other partner municipalities who want to streamline their property tax systems.

Albania’s current, official property database is main-tained by the Immovable Property Registration Office

(IPRO), but municipalities have difficulty accessing and using the database. Further, while the IPRO database can facilitate property registration and transactions, it does not support the property taxation process, nor does it provide information on informal buildings. The Agency for Legalization, Urbanization, and Integration of Informal Construction (ALUIZNI) does have a register of informal buildings, but the information is not accurate enough to be useful in property taxation.

While waiting for national agencies to set standards, co-ordinate their databases into a single register, and make them available for public use, municipalities are proceed-ing with establishment of their own property registers using the best data available at this time.

Likewise, in the absence of an accessible national database, municipalities are mov-ing ahead and establishing and updating in-formation about their buildings, roads and address systems.

With a functional address system in place, municipal field inspectors can conduct a property inventory, collect information about individual properties, measure prop-erty sizes and record information about ownership. The specific data to be collect-ed will be determined by territory and tax registry needs. The goal is to ensure that relevant data needed for calculating taxes are captured.

Creating a Tax RegisterUsing GIS tools to create a tax register requires a number of steps. First, general layers of information such as roads and buildings must be created, using satellite images, aerial photographs and/or other ca-dastral and vector maps. Then, the data for the roads and buildings can be used to generate an address system for the entire municipal territory, with each building/property being assigned a unique address number.

When developing a tax register, the working team, composed of municipal staff, should include urban planners, engineers, lawyers, and tax officers. Once the working tax register is assembled, the munici-pality is able to kick off the tax cycle of billing and collection, resulting in increased own-source rev-enues.

A GIS sample view of property data in a Lushnje neighborhood

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improved AcceSS to informAtion meAnS improved locAl governAnce

Information and Communication Technology

writing to win

Capacity Building

ICT Applications Create Possibilities for Knowledge, Transparency and Participation

Grant Workshop Helps Municipalities Open Doors to Financial Opportunity

Each time a person buys a home, turns on a water tap, pays a tax, has a child, gets in a traffic accident

or renews a license, information is recorded that can be analyzed by municipalities to improve local governance. The USAID Planning and Local Governance Project’s In-formation and Communication Technology (ICT) Expert Genc Radovicka says, “Information is a resource that local governments need to properly provide services, account for their performance and govern more effec-tively.”

USAID’s ongoing Local eGovernment Initiative, launched in 2012, supports local government units (LGUs) in using ICT solutions to improve service delivery, efficiency and accountability. This technical and material assistance is customized to the needs of each local government and includes the creation of systems for tax administration and collection; financial administration (e.g., accounting, budgeting and asset management); water billing and ac-counting; document management and geographic infor-mation systems (GIS).

Further, eService solutions benefit citizens through por-tals that offer community information, government activ-ity monitoring, public forums, online problem reporting,

Identifying a problem is the easy part. Writing a proposal to convince those with money to help solve that prob-

lem is much more difficult. Recently, USAID collaborated with the Slovenian government to help Albanian munici-palities improve their chances of success when seeking funding. Twenty-five municipal department heads and key specialists from across the country attended the two-part workshop, “Project Cycle Management in Practice: From Idea to Winning Project Proposal,” which aimed to transfer best practices developed during Slovenia’s 12 years of European Union (EU) membership.

The program spanned 10 days of training. The first part of the training taught participants how to write and sub-mit successful grant proposals while the second part focused on how to manage awarded funds prudently. “What we learned was really helpful for our municipal-

tourist information and other services.

USAID has invested significant to provide extensive ICT-related assistance to its 12 partner municipalities—near-ly 80 percent of Albania’s total population. This technical and material support takes three forms:

• Developing municipal capacity to provide and maintain ICT infrastructure affordably.

• Building the capability to create and maintain essential applications—and their required local content—on an ongoing basis.

• Fostering staff and citizen abilities to use the applica-tions properly.

This investment in local eGovernment infrastructure bol-sters USAID’s other efforts to support sustainable decen-tralization in Albania by improving public administration, service delivery and civic engagement. ICT is a vital part of the local governance framework: It is the means by which municipalities can access the information need-ed to improve and innovate on behalf of their citizens. ICT moves beyond technology to create possibilities for knowledge, participation, transparency and collaboration.

USAID General Development Officer Dennis Wesner (left), Ambassa-dor of Slovenia to Albania, Lea Stancic (middle), and USAID Project Chief of Party, Kevin McLaughlin, (right) delivering remarks at the first IPA training.

ity,” said Albana Zeqaj of Fier municipality’s Office of

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writing to win

Project Publications

Projects. “The training was both specific and practical.” In anticipation of EU membership, Albania is faced with the need for both infrastructure development and capac-ity building if it is to provide its citizens with vital public services. Securing grant funds is essential to meeting these demands, but money does not flow automatically. Whether from the EU, other international donors or Alba-nia’s own Regional Development Agencies, funding can be achieved only through a competitive process of grant applications. When and if funds are granted, it is crucial that those funds be wisely administered so that projects can be completed on time and within budget. In addition to improving the skills of public servants, the training

Draft Policy Paper: Key Recommendations for the Development and Discus-sion of the Law on Local Government Finances

This policy brief represents an initial draft of findings and recommendations on the key issues facing Albanian poli-cymakers in the framework of developing the first ever-comprehensive Local Gov-ernment Finance Law.

Policy Paper: Financial In-struments for Land Devel-opment

This paper’s recommenda-tions are framed within the broader context of momen-tous political, economic, and social change in Albania, as well within the specific con-text of U.S. assistance to make more human and finan-cial resources available to lo-cal governments.

A Handbook for Local Officials

This handbook includes the legal framework for local governance (with particu-lar focus on the new Law on Local Self-Governance); roles and responsibilities of councilors and mayors; citi-zen participation; constituent relations; local economic de-velopment; and other topics related to local governance.

A Practical Guide on Collection of Local Tax Liabilities

USAID published a practical reference, targeted at tax of-ficials, on managing local tax debt collection. This pracical guide on the collection of lo-cal tax liabilities has been disseminated to local tax officials in the third and last sessions of a training cycle, which was held during July.

also emphasized the strategic importance of regional collaborations. As many issues transcend geographic borders, intermunicipal and transnational proposals often increase the likelihood of funding success. Similarly, co-operation between different levels of government is also a key success factor, and the training included a session on building partnerships between national ministries and local governments. Proposals endorsed by both levels of government and solid implementation partnerships are crucial in securing EU and international funding sources.

Reflecting on her experiences during the workshop, Bur-buqeMeçaj,HeadofDevelopmentandProjectsforKuço-va municipality, said, “The workshop has provided useful

tools for our staff. We learned many approaches and tips on writing project proposals and now un-derstand better how to match our local needs with donors’ strategies for funding projects.”

This program was the second such collaboration between USAID and the Slovenian government. Participants included representatives of USAID partner local government units, the Government of Albania, and local NGOs.

View of a group photo of participants of the second round of IPA training

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commUnity-BASed ScorecArdS Strengthen civic engAgement

Civic Engagement

Scorecards Allow Citizens to Voice Their Priorities

In a recent collaboration with UN Women, USAID’s Plan-ning and Local Governance Project (PLGP) enabled cit-

izens in four municipalities to express their voice in the run-up to the June 2015 local election. The Community-Based Scorecard (CBS) Initiative incorporates input from citizens and municipal adminis-trators alike to report on the “state of the union” in their communities.

Albania’s Territorial and Administra-tive Reform (TAR), implemented in June 2015, greatly expanded the phys-ical boundaries of most municipalities to encompass nearby rural areas. The impact of the TAR is significant, not only in terms of the responsibilities and functioning of local government units (LGUs), but also with regard to civic participation. As LGUs face an increase in population levels due to this reform, a larger number of their citizens now live in outlying rural areas and have different needs and concerns from the citizens in urban zones. Communities throughout Alba-nia now face even greater challenges than before in achieving true civic inclusion and repre-sentation.

In anticipation of the TAR and last year’s nationwide lo-cal elections, PLGP and UN Women implemented a set of CBSs in four municipalities: Berat, Elbasan, Kamza, and Vlora. The scorecards are a monitoring tool that re-port on the state of four key aspects of local governance: public services, good government and local democracy, economic development and social welfare. The results are then used at the local level to exact both accountabil-ity and responsiveness from local authorities.

The CBS process for the participating municipalities in-volved focus groups with citizens and structured inter-views with municipal administrators in each of the 19 LGUs that were soon to be absorbed by their respective municipalities. The discussions and interviews covered nearly a dozen topics within the four key local gover-nance areas, including water supply and sewage, road maintenance, government transparency and account-ability, employment, business promotion, social servic-es and human rights. Following a month of field work, PLGP presented the scorecard results to each municipal-

ity’s mayoral candidates just weeks before the upcom-ing elections. The goal? To ensure that candidates heard citizens’ perceptions and recommendations.

A total of seven public forums were held across the four municipalities. The first of these forums, held in Be-rat, was particularly noteworthy be-cause both of the main candidates for mayor were present—a rarity in Alba-nia. The forum was also noteworthy for its constructive tenor: The candi-dates were thoughtful and engaged throughout the dialogue with Berat’s citizens and they kept their focus on people and priorities rather than on politics and parties. The other public forums were held in Elbasan, Kamza, and Vlora. In all cases, Citizen Advi-sory Panel (CAP) members and other citizens participated in the events.

The CBS initiative has strengthened citizens’ voices in these municipali-ties by facilitating productive dialogue and promoting participation in local decision-making. In particular, the

scorecards have encouraged the broader participation of underrepresented groups and created real possibilities for political parties and their candidates to incorporate citizen priorities into their electoral platforms. CBSs help local authorities and political parties better understand the needs and priorities of their communities, including underrepresented groups, and better channel available resources accordingly.

Lori Memo, PLGP’s Civic Engagement Expert and one of the overseers of the CBS initiative, says, “The over-arch-ing goal of the Planning and Local Governance Project is to improve the functioning of local governments and civic engagement is a key component of our efforts.” Fitore Sulimani, former CAP coordinator in Berat, said, “Be-cause CBSs reflect citizens’ real perceptions and needs, they help local governments to put citizens’ visions into action. It is democracy in action.”

Building on the success of last summer’s efforts, PLGP and UN Women are now extending the scorecard pro-gramtosixadditionalmunicipalities—Fier,Korça,Kuço-va, Lushnje, Shkodra, and Gjirokaster—and supporting their citizens in strengthening their voices.

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U.S. government officiAlS viSit pArtner mUnicipAlitieSThis spring and summer, the USAID Planning and Local Governance Project has been honored by visits from

U.S. Embassy and U.S. Government officials to several of its partner municipalities.

In mid-May, USAID’s Assistant Administrator for Europe & Eurasia, Thomas Melia, visited Albania to support US-AID’s efforts to promote decentralization. During his visit Mr. Melia met with the Minister of Finance, Mr. Arben Ah-metaj, to discuss USAID’s efforts to support the drafting of the Local Government Finance Law (LGFL); and met with Elbasan Mayor Qazim Sejdini to discuss USAID’s work with the Municipality. Elbasan, a model municipal-ity of the USAID Planning and Local Governance Project (PLGP), has been the recipient of technical assistance from USAID programs since 2011.

Over the years, USAID has worked in close collaboration with Elbasan officials to build the city’s Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure, which now enables the municipality to better manage local fi-nances, increase own-source revenues and improve the collection and administration of local taxes. Mr. Melia thanked the Municipality of Elbasan, saying, “USAID has worked in partnership with Albania for 25 years and our collaborations with Elbasan have been fruitful. I also en-courage other municipalities to adopt ICT solutions, as Elbasan has, that increase transparency and accountabil-ity while improving service delivery for citizens.”

Later in the visit, Mr. Melia and the U.S. Ambassador in Albania Donald Lu held a working dinner with the mayors ofBerat,Fier,KorçaandVlora,allofwhomareUSAID/PLGP partner mayors who had recently toured munici-palities in the U.S. through the International Visitor Lead-ership Program (IVLP) on Municipal Governance. During the dinner, the group discussed local governance in Al-bania, the challenges and opportunities of the 2015 Ter-ritorial Administrative Reform (TAR) and best practices observed during the mayors’ visit to the U.S.

In May, U.S. Ambassador Donald Lu and USAID Country Representative Marcus Johnson visited Fier and Vlora, both of which are USAID Planning and Local Governance Project partner municipalities. Mr. Armando Subashi, Mayor of Fier, was welcoming and openly shared his per-ceptions of the Project’s support to date, which includes assistance with the municipality’s General Local Terri-

torial Plan (GLTP) and numerous Information Technol-ogy (IT) interventions. Regarding the Tax Administration Information System (TAIS) provided by USAID, Mayor Subashi said, “PLGP support to our tax department helps ensure our future: in the first four months of 2016, we have collected twice the amount in taxes that we were able to collect over the same period in 2015.”

In Vlora, Ambassador Lu and Country Representative Johnson met with Mayor Dritan Leli, who reaffirmed his commitment to the partnership with PLGP and echoed Mayor Subashi’s comments about TAIS, saying, “When I took office, only three percent of property taxes were be-ing collected; in the first three months of 2016, however, we have collected as much in taxes as we have collected during the last 10 years.”

In August, David Muniz, Chargé d’affaires of the U.S. Embassy, visited two additional USAID model munici-palities:BeratandKorça.InKorça,Mr.Muniztouredthemunicipality’s flagship One-Stop Shop, an innovative, citizen-responsive approach to providing administra-tive services that was designed and installed by USAID working in partnership with the municipality. In Berat, Mr. Muniz visited with the Berat Citizen Advisory Panel (CAP) to discuss civic participation in the municipality, CAP’s interactions with municipal officials, citizens’ pri-orities and the impact of the ongoing Community-Based Scorecard initiative sponsored by the USAID Project and UN Women.

US Ambassador to Albania, Donald Lu, (second from down right) exchanges views on local development with Mayor and local officials of Fier.

Chargé d’affaires of the U.S. Embassy, David Muniz (left) meets with Mayor of Korça, Sotiraq Filo.

USAID’s Assistant Administrator for Europe & Eurasia, Thomas Melia, (left) shaking hands with Mayor of Elbasan, Qazim Sejdini

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