They have a big struggle with the bureaucracy Edita and Vladimir Bilić from Podgora, the owners of the “Srećko” pizzeria, who are threatened with eviction of the catering terrace on Monday due to the debt for two fines of 26 thousand euros, and they will also have to pay a tax for the use of public space in the amount of 13 thousand euros, which in the end is about 40 thousand euros.
Bilić received two fines of 26,000 euros, which are subject to eviction, for the years 2024 and 2025 according to the Decision on Local Taxes of the Municipality of Podgora, which was issued during the term of the mayor Petre Radić adopted by the Municipal Council.
Bilić wants to pay fines of 26,000 euros, but he is asking the Municipality to pay in installments, which they do not approve because the legal tax cannot be paid in such a way.
According to Article 13 of the Decision on Local Taxes of the Municipality of Podgora from 2023, if a taxpayer uses a public area without approval for up to 15 days, the tax on the use of public areas is increased by 50 percent, and it is increased by 100 percent for the user who does not pay it for 15 to 30 days after the decision.
Two penalties
Just because of this item, Bilić received two fines because he paid annual tax in the amount of about 13 thousand euros, and as he was late with the payment, the fines increased to 26 thousand euros.
As he says, the tax of 13,000 euros, unrelated to two fines in the amount of 26,000 euros, has been paid late and with late interest for the last few years during and after the summer because he does not work in the winter.
On the other hand, the Municipality headed by Mayor Miličić Bilić would like to approve the payment of fines in installments, but, as they say, legally this is not possible.
– On Thursday, I will start a hunger strike in front of the Municipality building and I will tie myself to the entrance with chains because I really don’t know what to do.
On Monday, the municipal communal wardens announced the removal of the sheds with 25 tables and 100 seats and other inventory, accompanied by the police. We are talking about a debt for two penalties, which actually, according to the experts I spoke with, does not exist at all because the decree on it is usurious and cannot defeat the Law of the Republic of Croatia.
The decree punishing everyone who is late with the payment of taxes on public areas, no less and no more than the 100 percent amount, was passed by the former mayor, so overnight we owed 26 thousand euros in fines. We are not avoiding paying the fine for which the decision was revoked, but we are only asking the Municipality for a settlement – installment payments so that we can continue working. Well, the entire state is in debt, and the same Municipality of Podgora owed millions of HRK and no one closed them down or seized their property, but they worked and paid back the debt. That’s why we suspect that someone is doing this for personal interests or someone close to them, and my whole family and 10 workers to whom I rented a house to live in live from this business – says Bilić.
– I have lived in Podgora for 35 years, and I have owned a pizzeria for 16 years, while I opened a souvenir shop 28 years ago. No one loves us Croatian veterans, nor does anyone help us, and we fought for this kind of Croatia – says Bilić, who sent requests for the payment of fines in installments to the Ministry of Finance, the Zagreb Tax Administration, and the Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovićto the Minister of Justice Damir Habijan and the prefect Blaženka Boban.
Decision on local taxes
Bilić also says that he always operated normally until 2020, i.e. until the coronavirus pandemic, when work was slow with a smaller number of tables, but expenses had to be paid, as well as the tax on the use of public space.
Since then, he has been paying taxes late and with default interest, but then in 2023, a municipal decision on local taxes was adopted and an item on a 100 percent tax increase if the payment is delayed by up to a month.
– I submitted a request to the municipality that the payment of the fine of 36 thousand euros be approved in installments, and my new company and house are guarantees, as well as the decision of the German court according to which I should receive 139 thousand euros from the property of my late wife – says Bilić, who already spent all his earnings in 2018 for his wife’s treatment in Zagreb.
– I don’t drive a Mercedes and I don’t lie on money, so I won’t pay a fine. If I had the full amount, I would pay immediately, but I can only do so in installments, which they do not allow me to do. Now, as a result of the shocks, my second wife, whom I have to save, has also fallen ill – says Bilić.
It’s not easy for us either
We asked the mayor if the municipal fine could be paid in installments and how Bilić could be helped Anto Miličić who has been working on this case for a month.
As he says, in the Plan for the use and purpose of public areas in the Podgora municipality for 2026, it is stated that public areas for which no tax has been paid in the previous year cannot be put to use before the same has been paid.
– Believe me, it’s not easy for us either because of Mr. Bilić’s status. In this case, the tax debt cannot be paid in installments because the conditions of the General Tax Law have not been met and a new solution cannot be owed until the entire amount is paid according to the old one – said Miličić.
