IBSER provided consultations

The Institute for Budgetary and Socio-Economic Research (IBSER) continues its cooperation with the Kropyvnytskyi City Council within the framework of the project “Strengthening Child-Sensitive Budgeting at the Subnational Level”, implemented with the support of UNICEF Ukraine. IBSER team has already summarized the first practical results of this collaboration.
As part of the project, IBSER experts conducted a series of consultations for city council specialists focusing on:
- calculating the cost of centralized water supply and wastewater services;
- approaches to allocating overhead and administrative costs when setting tariffs;
- establishing economically sound tariffs while taking social considerations into account.
The explanations and recommendations provided by IBSER are already being used by officials of the Department of Economic Development in their day-to-day work.
In a letter addressed to IBSER, representatives of the community noted that the consultations provided insights into the possibility of setting water supply tariffs at an economically justified level while simultaneously introducing targeted assistance for families with children, young people, and consumers whose per capita household income is below the subsistence minimum. The recommendations received have also encouraged the community to further explore the implementation of a new tariff-setting mechanism, including the proper allocation of costs by type of activity.
The Kropyvnytskyi territorial community has a population of 228,007 residents, including 40,027 children and 48,593 young people. The introduction of balanced financial solutions in the housing and utilities sector has the potential to significantly strengthen social protection for these population groups.
IBSER expresses its appreciation to the Kropyvnytskyi City Council for the cooperation and will continue providing expert support to local communities in implementing child- and youth-oriented budgeting approaches.