Montenegro’s Committee on Economy, Finance and Budget backed a proposed tax on housing benefits received by public officials on 9 November 2026, while unanimously supporting changes to passenger transport between neighbouring municipalities and rejecting a proposed pay increase for firefighters and rescuers. The three decisions leave the housing-tax and transport bills with committee support, but the firefighter salary proposal did not secure a majority.
Tax proposal targets housing benefits
The proposal from Democratic Montenegro would tax benefits officials received through a former system for meeting housing needs, under which some obtained apartments or housing loans on preferential terms. It covers apartments awarded on favourable terms or free of charge, housing loans that were reduced or forgiven, and other comparable property benefits. The proposal would direct the money collected to treatment for children and adults abroad.
Democratic Montenegro lawmaker Momčilo Leković presented the bill and said the tax would apply to the economic benefit obtained, not to the full value of an apartment. He illustrated the calculation with a property worth 100,000 euros that its recipient bought for 20,000 euros, leaving an initial benefit of 80,000 euros. A proposed 100% tax rate would apply only to the specifically assessed benefit, he said.
Under the proposal, later improvements financed by recipients from their own funds would not be taxed, Leković said. He described the measure as taxation of benefits granted on preferential terms, rather than “confiscation.” The bill also provides for an individual assessment of each benefit, rather than applying one calculation to all recipients.
Licensed appraisers would assess the benefit, and recipients would have the right to respond to the evidence and valuation and to appeal, according to the proposal. If two assessments differ by about 10%, a third appraiser would be engaged. The tax could be paid in instalments over as long as 120 months.
Boris Mugoša, a lawmaker from the European Alliance, supported examining how apartments had been allocated to officials but opposed generalising across recipients and called for individual treatment. He warned that the proposed rules could be legally unsustainable and pointed to the constitutional prohibition on retroactive laws. Leković said he was open to amendments and did not consider the proposal contrary to Montenegro’s constitution.
Democratic Montenegro presented the bill on 7 October, saying it aimed to compensate the state for the full value of benefits officials had received under the former housing-needs system. Two days later, the proposal failed to gain the support needed to be added to the Parliament of Montenegro’s agenda; 39 lawmakers voted for adding it. Parliament President Andrija Mandić then said he would put the proposal forward again at the next sitting.
Transport changes target gaps between municipalities
The committee unanimously backed amendments to the Law on Road Transport submitted by Democratic People’s Party lawmakers Milan Knežević, Jelena Kljajević and Vladislav Bojović. The amendments would allow scheduled and suburban passenger services to start or finish in a neighbouring municipality when no intercity service has been established between the municipalities, subject to approval from the competent authorities.
The proposal could make it easier to organise public transport between Zeta and Podgorica. Kljajević said the change would make daily journeys easier by removing the need for passengers to change vehicles because of administrative procedures. The bill’s provisions concern the organisation of routes across municipal boundaries, rather than creating a new intercity service where one already exists.
Democratic Party of Socialists lawmaker Mihailo Anđušić said the amendments could help people living in Zeta but doubted they would solve the problem in full. He described students travelling between Zeta and Podgorica having to change at the Aluminum Plant and continue with another transport operator, including on very hot days.
Socialist People’s Party lawmaker Slađana Kaluđerović called the proposal a step forward but said further legal changes would be needed for a lasting solution. She said Zeta residents should not have to travel more than 10 kilometres using two operators and wait 10 or 15 minutes, or longer. The committee’s unanimous backing applies to the proposed amendments; the facts provided do not specify a date for a parliamentary vote.
Firefighter pay proposal falls short
A separate bill to amend the Law on Salaries of Employees in the Public Sector did not receive committee support. Three members voted for it and five abstained. The Civic Movement URA proposal would have raised the pay coefficients for firefighters and rescuers from 7.3 to 9.5.
Civic Movement URA lawmaker Zoran Mikić said the proposal followed an initiative by firefighters, who had approached parliamentary groups seeking higher salaries, help with housing and better working conditions. He said the increase would cover between 700 and 800 firefighters. Mikić described the Government of Montenegro’s negative opinion on the bill as “scandalous”.
The Ministry of Finance explained the Government’s position by saying that setting separate coefficients for firefighters would undermine the public-sector pay system. Anđušić said he saw no reason for any parliamentary group to oppose higher pay for firefighters and rescuers, and described the proposal as neither irrational nor populist. He called for support for the workers.
Democratic Montenegro lawmaker Valentina Minić also backed the increase in coefficients, saying it would correct an injustice to people doing responsible and humanitarian work. Despite support expressed by lawmakers, the committee vote left the proposed salary change without the majority needed to advance from the committee.
