The Split City Council on Thursday adopted a decision to lower the local tax rate from 15% to 9% and abolish the consumption tax as of 2024 instead of 2022 as the Social Democratic Party (SDP) had originally proposed.

Fourteen of the 27 councillors present voted in favour of that decision.

SDP councillors had originally proposed that the decision enter into force in 2022, however, today they unexpectedly proposed that the decision enter into force in 2024, which angered Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ) councillors as they, too, had advocated that the decision enter into force in 2022.

Mayor Ivica Puljak and SDP councillor Davor Matijevic told reporters in separate statements that they had agreed on the motion, however, that did not mean reconciliation as earlier in the day Puljak said that SDP City Council members Goran Kotur and Matijevic were no longer part of the ruling majority and that he was heading a minority city government as of 31 Council members he now had the support of 15.

Puljak said that the situation with the city budget is not good and the city’s finances need to be consolidated by 2024.

Matijevic explained that a compromise had been reached, with the reduction of the local tax and abolishment of the consumption tax as of 2024, and not 2022, as had been proposed by SDP.

He noted that today’s decision can be changed before 2024 if the city’s finances improve.

HDZ councillor Vice Mihanovic, who had advocated the reduction of the local tax and abolishment of the consumption tax in 2022, said it was a bad decision to delay this until 2024.

Had a decision been adopted to reduce the local tax and abolish the consumption tax in 2022, that would generate a greater revenue and reduce taxes for enterprises, which would lead to increased business activities. The decision to defer this to 2024 is unreasonable, said Mihanovic.