for Local Governments

ers, need to be enacted to provide a secure, stable and attractive environment. On the
other hand, some modern and well-written laws, such as those providing for intellectual
property protection, have been tabled already, but they still lack enforcement mechanisms.
This means that changes of the existing legal system are still necessary in the
region.
Key steps to a new e-legislation are harmonization with EU legislation, fulfilling the
obligations from the eSEEurope Agenda and WSIS Action plan, amending existing laws
and adopting new laws and by-laws.
2.4.3 Fiscal framework. Structure of budget.
ICT budget planning is part of the general municipal budget planning. From several
best practice examples, it is important to fix the structure and methods of ICT budget
planning by internal regulation of the Municipality. It is recommended to describe ICTrelated
expenses clearly in the municipal budget. Ideally, half of the IT-budget is used
for running and maintenance costs and half for development and investments. From
international experience, the share of ICT expenses from the general budget is 1-2%.
In parallel with financing possibilities from the municipal budget, international donors
are also often supporting development projects. The choice of possible development
projects depends on the strategic tasks of these organizations. Quite often, this financing
is aimed to support the projects related to the development of civil society,
transparency, e-Democracy and anticorruption issues. In these cases the mechanisms
and rules of financing depend on the regulations of these international organizations.
In spite of these external possibilities, the ICT budget should be one of the priorities of
the municipal budget, regardless of its share. It is directly connected to the sustainability
of systems.
ICT budget is often divided into:
� Running costs of systems and infrastructure. There is the need to renew ca.
20% of the infrastructure every year. The calculation formula can be used to
evaluate the need for this renovation: c=a*b*0.2 (c = need for infrastructure
renovation budget, a = number of ICT workplaces in municipality, b = estimated
cost of a unit of infrastructure, usually 2-3 000 EUR). In addition to the
renewal of the infrastructure, some other costs should be estimated – cost for
internet connectivity service, cost of soft- and hardware maintenance, cost of
software licenses, cost of staff ICT training etc.
� Cost of development projects. This cost is often evaluated by using the external
expert method.
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