On 20 October 2025, councillors unanimously adopted a resolution on introducing changes to the budget of the Gmina and City of Nowogrodziec for 2025. This resulted from the judgment ordering the Nowogrodziec municipality to reimburse contractual penalties, interest and legal costs to the contractor who revitalised the building at 4 Cicha Street, converted for the needs of a DPS and rehabilitation facility.
The contractual penalties amount to PLN 173,300. In addition, there are more than PLN 17,000 in court costs and approximately PLN 94,000 in interest. Altogether, PLN 284,000.
“Unfortunately, the municipality must pay the contractor who revitalised the building on Cicha Street the contractual penalties charged, plus interest,” Mayor Joanna Świder said during the session. “Charging contractual penalties is not a reprehensible practice; it is a normal thing. However, on 1 March 2023, the contractor approached the office and submitted a written settlement proposal. He wanted PLN 192,000 and waived his right to interest. At that time, no settlement was reached; we will probably never know the reasons why. If a settlement had been reached then, we would have saved more than PLN 111,000 by now. These are the behind-the-scenes details of the case,” the mayor added.
Leszek Socha disagrees with shifting the blame for the situation onto the former mayor.
“The mayor accepted the continuity of authority and responsibility for what happened,” comments Leszek Socha of Civic Platform in Nowogrodziec. “Why were there no audits? These audits are for us, for society, so that it is clear what we spend funds from the municipal budget on and how they are spent. This is about being honest with society, because with such hopes we elect councillors and successive mayors. I do not know why the mayor failed to fulfil her campaign promises and, moreover, explained her decision not to conduct audits by saying that she would not waste taxpayers’ money on audits,” Socha recalls.