Below we present an abridged version of the post-inspection report by the Supreme Audit Office concerning irregularities in implementing the city’s revitalization program. Fragments of it were quoted today in comments under various articles of ours, and today we managed to obtain the post-inspection report.
The office implemented the Municipal Revitalization Program of the Bolesławiec Urban Municipality adopted in 2016 (hereinafter: the “GPR” or the “Program”). However, the actions undertaken in this regard were not correct, as they did not correspond to the assumptions of the Program and did not lead to the achievement of most of the intended results within the prescribed timeframe.
The revitalization process carried out on the basis of the Program proceeded with delays compared with the GPR Framework Schedule. Most of the projects were not completed that were included in the GPR, including those for which funding was specified exclusively from the municipality’s own funds.
In 2017–2020 (through the end of September), only five of the 16 projects planned for 2017–2019 were completed, as well as three of the 24, whose completion was planned by the end of 2020. The completed projects were not sufficiently concentrated and comprehensive to bring about the renewal of degraded areas. In addition, the substantive scope of four of them was not fully implemented.
A significant portion of the projects was implemented selectively and was not fully focused on solving social problems. There were also cases in which, as part of revitalization projects, projects not arising from the GPR were implemented—that is, projects that had not been planned in it, were not aimed at achieving its objectives, or were not logically connected with its content and objectives. Some of these projects concerned areas not covered by revitalization. Stakeholder participation in the revitalization implementation process was essentially limited to the planned implementation of projects included in the GPR and the possibility of participating in meetings of the Revitalization Committee.
The monitoring and evaluation system adopted in the GPR did not ensure effective measurement and assessment of the revitalization process. The Program defined indicators for measuring the degree of changes taking place and related them to the revitalization objectives; however, baseline and target values were not defined for most of them. The data and information collected as part of the monitoring were not always reliable, and often also concerned areas not covered by revitalization. They also did not provide information on whether grounds existed for updating the Program. The results achieved so far were negligible in relation to those planned.
In the opinion of the Supreme Audit Office, the method used so far to implement and monitor the GPR does not guarantee that the intended results of the revitalization process will be achieved while preserving the principles of complementarity, concentration and comprehensiveness. Fully implementing the assumptions of the Program in the current situation will not be possible and will not allow the adopted revitalization objectives and results to be achieved.
Detailed report: NIK post-inspection report on irregularities in Bolesławiec