Tobatí, Paraguay
The municipality of Tobatí is located in the department of Cordillera, 60 kilometers east of Asunción, the capital of Paraguay.
VCA Score
39 Points
July 2019
The population is around 32,000 , which makes it the second largest in the department. The main industries of the municipality are building materials, the most important of which are the olive groves dedicated to the production of bricks and tiles, as well as agriculture and handicrafts. As in the rest of the Paraguayan municipalities, the municipality receives funds from the State through two main sources: FONACIDE and royalties, although it also raises its own funds, mainly through the real estate tax and commercial patents.
Results
IRI’s VCA report has identified four main vulnerabilities. First, although the municipality of Tobatí is making efforts to improve tax collection, the disagreement between cadastral information and the culture of avoiding payment translates into a significant loss of state resources. Furthermore, although Tobatí complies with national accountability standards, some interviewees do not show a similar degree of interest in the effective application of municipal ordinances. Third, there are information asymmetries in the access requirements to investment projects financed by the municipality that can affect the integrity of the process. Without public calls that allow all citizens to know the existence of these opportunities, situations of comparative grievance between neighbors may arise. Finally, there is an inadequacy between the personnel and the positions, where the key positions of the municipal organization chart are occupied by people who do not have the adequate technical training to exercise the position.
Scoring: July 2019
Headlines
- In general, administrative and financial processes, including public procurement, function satisfactorily. Most of those interviewed, including members of the opposition council, agreed that there are no major problems in the way the municipality is run. Many of them agree that the mayor is open to trying to solve citizens' problems and appreciate his efforts to improve things.
- Although the municipality has committed to improving transparency and accountability to its citizens, the IRI has identified deficiencies related to the management of municipal tax collection, the effective application of ordinances, a deficiency between the staff and positions, and the dissemination of municipal information.