Ratiboř

Assessment of 2020

This year, with the support of the Ministry of Regional Development:

• Repair of several sections of local roads,
• Hundreds of metres of pavements were completed,
• two new playgrounds were built and outdoor fitness machines were added to the one in the parish garden.
• The main investment project was the extension of the primary school, where a new language and computer room was built, the school canteen was modernised and the school is now completely wheelchair accessible. We planned a grand opening with the headmistress, but hygiene measures did not allow it. I hope that we will be able to organise an open day at the end of the school year.
• The gradual reconstruction of the hunting area in Červeny is also still in progress.
• Another technologically demanding action was to increase the pressure in the water supply lines of the village in the localities of Hološín and Na Skalce. These works were carried out by our staff and the companies that won the individual tenders.

All the planned actions were completed and paid for in due time despite the very difficult period and the financial fluctuations in the municipality's budget caused by government measures.

The municipal staff took care of the public spaces by regular grass cutting, maintenance of pavements, green areas, ditches, forest paths, borders and cycle paths. We continue to expand flower beds and plant annuals in pots and planters, and plant new shrubs and trees. Also this October we planted several hundred bulbs to make our Ratiboř a bit more blooming in the spring. I hope you will agree with me that it was very pleasant to walk around the village square in summer and enjoy the flowering pots full of overhanging geraniums and other annuals, or to admire the bed of blooming roses and lavenders and geraniums in the windows of the municipal office or school. It is often the small improvements around repaired buildings or along sidewalks that make the public spaces in our village complete, but they give the village a tidy appearance.

Our workers also take care of municipal technology, fixing faults in the sewerage, water, public lighting or public address system. I would like to thank them very much for all the work they have done this year.

And thanks also go to the Ratiboř gardeners and the mothers from the parents' club. This year the gardeners helped with the planting of annuals and the mothers from the parents' club took care of the autumn and Christmas decoration of the premises of the local authority and the kindergarten. We were very pleased with this initiative and I believe it made you happy too. It is a rare voluntary effort to encourage everyone in such a difficult time. It is this togetherness that makes our village a place where we feel comfortable and live well.

Preparing the budget for 2021

Putting together next year's budget is not easy. Every year we base our budget on the forecast issued by the Ministry of Finance. Due to the turbulent changes brought about by 2020, such as the compensation bonus and the abolition of the super gross wage, the forecast for next year has not been issued. We are therefore dependent on the estimates provided by the Association of Local Authorities of the Czech Republic for municipalities. In next year's budget we will have to take into account the loss of revenue from the budget designation of taxes brought about by the abolition of the super gross wage. The projected drop in tax revenue for our municipality is CZK 7 million. The proposed budget will therefore be based on the 2019 budget, which will be reduced by 20 to 25%.

The budgets chart shows a gradual increase in municipal revenue from 2015 to 2019. This is followed by a decrease from 2020. The subsidy portion of the budget, on the other hand, shows a continued high subsidy drawdown.

There are two primary goals we face in setting the budget

1) The first is to ensure that all mandated (operating) expenses are funded, such as drinking water supply, sewer and wastewater system operations, ensuring the operation of the elementary and kindergarten schools, winter maintenance, and maintenance of public spaces.

2) In addition to these expenditures, the second is the capital portion of the budget. State or European funding is already secured for:

• construction of a multifunctional community centre,
• Phase III of the modernisation of the collection yard,
• modernisation of the public address system,
• purchase of forestry equipment.

At the same time, the budget must include the expected subsidies that can be obtained from the Ministry of Regional Development of the Czech Republic, where the results of supported applications are usually announced during the spring months. This includes applications such as:

• Repair of the playground at the Sokol Hall,
• repair of the footbridges over the Ratibořka River,
• repair of local roads in the lower part of the village,
• construction of a children's rope centre in Červeny, etc.

For all these actions we will have to ensure our financial participation in the budget, which is a key issue in these uncertain times. However, it is a priority to implement these actions while we are still able to obtain subsidy money. The economic assumption is that there will be a big drop in subsidy funding, both state and European, over the next two years and that there will be very few subsidy calls. It is therefore important to get maximum support for the next two years.

Martin Žabčík
Mayor