Lusineh Toplaghaltsyan

Mikayel Gharibyan has held the office of community leader of Djil since 2002. Starting that same year, the former community leader and employees of the Municipality and Regional Governor’s office have been pursuing a court case to receive the back wages they were never paid.

These wages total a little over 8 million drams. The Municipality of Djil has been paying off these obligations for years. A freeze had been placed on the budget for some time and now it’s not only the budget’s monetary assets that are subject to this regulation but also the property belonging to the Municipality as well. In order to effectively handle the debt issue the Municipality started paying minimum salaries to its workers but even this approach couldn’t help to solve the arrears problem.  The silver lining in all this is that the Local Self-governance Body (LSGB) of Djil hasn’t given up hope. On the contrary, whilst residing in a mountainous zone adjacent to the border and far removed from all else, they are attempting to pay off their arrears by simultaneously adopting a plan of development. 

As of 2008 the outstanding debt of the Municipality amounted to 9.9 million drams, a sum that also included social benefit payments. The level of arrears is dependent on the 2002 debt mentioned above since, in the future, workers at the Municipality and the community kindergarten, the only other institution controlled by the Municipality, will not be paid. The Municipality is still paying out the outstanding salary obligations of past years. In 2008 the main portion of the arrears was comprised of wages for kindergarten employees. 

The kindergarten in Djil is open year-round but it’s no closed due to repair work. Nanik Artinian, a Canadian-Armenian benefactor, is underwriting the cost for these repairs. Regarding our question as to whether her involvement was in response to the rural poverty reduction program adopted at the Hayastan-Spyurk Conference of 2006, especially since Djil was one of the communities included in the project, the representatives of the Djil LSGB replied that it was highly unlikely since the benefactor would have mentioned something to that effect. The kindergarten’s roof has been repaired and the building’s heating system installed. Presently, the floors are being renovated.

One of the 2007 projects deserving mention was the procurement of a grain harvest combine under the purview of the ROA Ministry of Agriculture and the World Bank’s “Rural Enterprise and Small-Scale Community Agricultural Development Project”.  The Municipality invested a 10% share to obtain the combine and will contribute another 5% towards building a terminal. The “Niva” combine has a price tag of 22.3 million drams that, according to project stipulations, must be paid off within 10 years. The Community Council still hasn’t reviewed the cost benefits that the combine will generate since the unit was delivered to Djil on October 5th after agricultural work in the community had ceased. However the arrival of the combine has already made an impact on the community given that fall planting levels were up 30% in 2007.

As noted, the start of repair work on the kindergarten was a result of the successes of the past year. The two-story house being built by the Norwegian “Refugee Council” for the eleven-member family of Mekhak Vardanyan is another success story that doesn’t lag behind in importance. Also during the course of last year pipes delivering potable water were installed and repairs to local streets were made. 

In 2007, 18% of Djil’s projected budget of 18 million drams for the year was realized. State credits amounted to 4 million drams. While the budget projected self-generating revenues at 13.5 million drams only 2.4 million was actually realized in property taxes, land taxes and sales and other local taxes. The community leader reasons that this shortfall is because local residents are in no position to pay taxes and due to the lack agricultural equipment, which, as we have noted has been rectified with the purchase of the combine. There are landowners who, ever since the days of privatization, don’t even know where their tillable fields lay because they never had the machinery to work them. There are also landowners in hock to the tune of 200,000-500,000 drams who aren’t seeing any returns from the land. 75-80% of the community’s tillable land is fairly unfruitful land of the 3rd or 4th degree located far from the village and in the higher elevations. Since these lands are also prone to cannon-fire the villagers don’t cultivate them on a regular basis. There are 44 hectares of meadowland that continues to expand since the arable land is not being cultivated as needed. Only 30% of this acreage is being used to raise animal feed. The low tax numbers don’t fully reflect this unfortunate reality on the ground.

 One could say that the mountain fields and meadows of Djil in the area of Jambarak were like a gateway beckoning the Azeris and in 1993 they attempted to push their way into Armenia right through this spot. 15 years ago, during those difficult days, two youngsters were killed by artillery fire. In the meanwhile it appears that the attention the government is paying to the border regions is limited to projects of a rhetorical and discretionary nature. Whatever the high-minded ideals encompassed in these projects, designed to attract outside investment, the fact remains that they haven’t yet made a dent in the actual lifestyle of the people. The issues confronting communities in the mountainous, neglected border zones require unique approaches and concessions. While they might be instituted just the one time they must be forceful enough to introduce essential and irreversible changes in the lives of border area residents.

Now let’s turn to the essential details of the budget. On the revenue side projected property taxes included in tax revenues amounted to 227,000 drams of which 59,6000 were rolled over from previous years. These numbers were based on old vehicles still registered on the books but in effect no longer in existence. A much larger shortfall, amounting to 9.7 million drams, is in the land taxes account. In the current year alone these shortfalls amount to 1.5 million drams. Projected local taxes from the four community stores selling cigarettes and liquor amount to 77,000 drams. The local tax to be collected from each store is pegged at 10,000 drams, but due to non-payment these arrears amount to 37,000 drams.

Djil’s 2008 projected non-tax revenues (land and meadowland rentals) amount to 3.639 million drams. Meadowland rentals, at 484,000 drams, only comprise a small portion of this. Amazingly, the 3.154 drams in land rentals includes 1.236 million in collection shortfalls from previous years. Community head M. Gharibyan states that a portion of this obligation is the responsibility of local resident Vahan Arsenyan who rented some 100 hectares of land. His yearly rent amounts to 500-600,000 drams but he’s only been paying 100-200,000. The balance of the obligation belongs to the Sevan sugar factory that has signed a 25-year lease for 38 hectares of land. The factory however isn’t cultivating this land.

In 2008 State credits allocated to Djil will increase by 792,000 drams for a total of 4.792 million drams. 600,000 drams will be allocated to the community for state authorized expenditures that include the salary for the veterinary doctor and social benefit payments. Thus, the revenue side of Djil’s 2008 budget amounts to a bit over19 million drams and amount also projected on the expense side as well. A major portion of projected expenditures is for Municipality and kindergarten salaries as well as to pay off arrears in these areas. These projected amounts will also go towards authorized expenditures, office and business trip expenses and utility bills. 1 million drams is earmarked for the reserve fund.

In the opinion of Djil’s Local Self-Governance Body, the only realistic possibility to free the community from its arrears and to progress is to rezone some of its arable land for resort/leisure development. On July 17, 2006 the Community Council passed a decision along these lines that’s now being reviewed by the national government.

Plans and expectations abound but money is lacking. And outstanding arrears weigh heavily on the community. The Municipality of Djil however is unique in that it operates according to a normal and transparent work ethic with a degree of accountability. The Community Council confirmed this fact by a decision it passed on December 27, 2007 ensuring the transparency of the LSGB’s operations. Despite this, the Council members weren’t given a draft copy of the budget at their January 11th session where they were to review the 2008 budget. Such a move would not have only   increased the effectiveness of the budget review; it’s also obligatory under the law. Thus, “ Any documentation provided to Council Members in conjunction with a Council meeting that is to be reviewed in an open-door session must be placed in a location accessible to all with said Council chambers.”

Gavar