The development of local and regional self-government went astride with its development in the Republic of Croatia. On the level of the country the tendencies shifted towards the strenghtening of the local government through three phases of development. The legislator decided to give more autonomy to local units, towns and the countys, all with the purpose to lower the centralisation that was threatening Croatia. The City of Zadar is a local self-governing unit with a representative and executive body of the local self-government. For the purpose of this paper, we have concentrated on the review and function of the executive government in Zadar. The executive government is reflected in the institution of the Mayor and the Administrative departments. The City of Zadar has 13 administrative departments taht all work on solving the everyday problems of the citizens in an efficient and ethical way. The same structure is seen thoughout many of the neighbouring countries, and for that reason we decided to make a comparative review with the City of Zrenjanin from the neighbouring Republic of Serbia. Because of the nearly identical urban population of the two cities, it is interesting to see how its executive government works, and the funds it disposes with.