Expenses for Parliamentary Offices in Krakow – Where Does the Money Go?

Rent for an Office in the Center vs. the Outskirts

The largest fixed cost for Krakow parliamentarians is renting premises. We reviewed 19 lease agreements concluded in the last 14 months. The most expensive office, located on Floriańska Street, costs taxpayers 6,420 PLN per month for 78 square meters. At the same time, an MP from Nowa Huta rents a premises of a similar size in the Centrum C estate for 2,150 PLN. The difference is 4,270 PLN per month, which saves 51,240 PLN per year. We checked this in the tables, and there is no doubt that the prestigious location in the Old Town consumes over 33% of the entire office budget.

It is worth noting that 4 MPs use premises belonging to the municipal resources of the city of Krakow. Rates per square meter there range from 14.20 PLN to 18.50 PLN, which is significantly lower than the market rate. The remaining 15 parliamentarians rent offices from private owners or companies. The record holder in July 2024 paid an additional 1,140 PLN for utilities and administration, which, combined with high rent, means that little more than half of the available funds remain for the substantive work of the office. Only concrete data allows us to see this disproportion.

The difference in rent alone between the most expensive and the cheapest office in Krakow is 4,270 PLN per month.

Salaries of Employees and Assistants

Employee salaries consume an average of 58% of the parliamentary allowance. In Krakow offices, there are usually 2 to 4 people employed, often part-time. We analyzed transfers from May 2024. The average salary of an assistant in Krakow is 4,320 PLN gross. However, we found cases where one person, acting as the office director, earns 8,400 PLN gross, which nearly exhausts the payroll fund for a small team. Without the political jargon – high salaries for individual people often go hand in hand with fewer office opening hours for residents.

An interesting phenomenon is civil law contracts for the preparation of legal opinions. During the studied period, 7 MPs from Krakow commissioned a total of 23 such expert opinions. The cost of one opinion ranged from 1,200 PLN to 3,500 PLN. The most, as much as 14,800 PLN for this purpose, was spent by an MP with 4 years of experience in the third quarter of 2024. An analysis of the content of these orders (available in our full report) shows that some documents consisted of only 3 typewritten pages. We checked this in financial tables and compared it with actual activity at the parliamentary podium.

Equipment, Paper, and Coffee

Administrative costs are the 'black hole' of many accounts. In August 2024, one of the Krakow offices purchased 3 coffee machines with a total value of 5,120 PLN, arguing it was due to the large number of visitors received. Meanwhile, the average number of meetings with residents in the same office, according to the official schedule, is only 6 meetings per month. Another MP settled the purchase of copier paper for 2,840 PLN over six months. At the average price of a ream of paper, this means the consumption of over 140,000 sheets in 6 months. That is about 770 pages per day.

Another expense is telephones and internet. The average bill for 4 numbers in a parliamentary office in Krakow is 460 PLN per month. However, the record holder pays 1,120 PLN, which suggests the use of roaming packages outside the European Union or the purchase of expensive devices in an installment system included in the subscription. Only concrete data from the invoices we reached show how small amounts sum up to thousands of zlotys that could have been allocated to real legal aid for Krakow residents.

One of the MPs accounted for copier paper in a quantity suggesting the printing of 770 pages every day for half a year.

Car Travel, aka Mileage Allowance

Each MP can settle up to 3,500 PLN per month for fuel for their own car. This is the so-called mileage allowance. In Krakow, 16 out of 19 MPs regularly claim the full amount. With an average fuel price of 6.40 PLN per liter and fuel consumption of 8 liters per 100 km, an MP would have to drive approximately 6,800 kilometers per month. That is 226 kilometers every day, regardless of holidays or days of Sejm sessions in Warsaw, where MPs fly by plane or travel by train for free. The numbers do not lie – these expenses are flat-rate and rarely have coverage in real routes across Lesser Poland.

Analyzing data for June 2024, we noticed that an MP living 4 kilometers from his office on Grodzka Street also settled 94% of the fuel limit. During the same period, there were 3 Sejm sessions lasting a total of 11 days, during which the parliamentarian was in the capital. The effectiveness of controlling these expenditures by the Sejm Chancellery is negligible. Our team tracked the routes of 3 selected politicians, and it turned out that their actual mileage was 47% lower than declared in the documents.

Summary – Where Does the 3,800 PLN Escape?

The difference of 3,800 PLN per month between a 'frugal' and an 'extravagant' office results from three factors: rent, the number of assistants, and spending on expert opinions. The most efficient offices in Krakow operate on Kanoniczna Street and the Zgody estate. There, fixed costs do not exceed 40% of the budget. The remaining 60% is spent on real legal services and meetings with experts. In offices with the highest costs, this relationship is reversed – 69% goes to maintaining the structure and luxury equipment, and only 30% to substantive matters. Without the political jargon – it is the voter who pays for these decisions.

At Sejmometr Media, we have prepared a comparison table of all 19 offices. You can check the exact amount spent on cleaning, flowers, and even press subscriptions. Our data comes directly from reports submitted to the Sejm Chancellery, which we cross-verified with market prices in Krakow. If an MP claims to pay 800 PLN for cleaning a 40 m2 office for one visit, we check it in the tables and compare it with offers from local cleaning companies. Transparency is the foundation.