World Bank2014-07-222014-07-222013-09https://hdl.handle.net/10986/18965This report addresses the limited access to local governments of data and knowledge of municipal finance issues in South East Europe (SEE). The objective of the analytical work under the SEE Municipal Finance Review (MFR) aims to (i) contribute to improved understanding of local government management and finance in the SEE Region; and (ii) contribute to improving the quality and consistency of key municipal finance data for improved evidence based policy making. The analysis presented in this report comprises the first attempt to review and analyze a regional set of disaggregated sub-national finance data in the SEE Region. Main findings of the MFR are presented in this report. Following an introductory chapter, chapter 2 provides an overview of the decentralization framework in the SEE Region, including on the administrative and political structure of sub-national governments, their population size and distribution, and the service functions assigned to local governments. Chapter 3 explains in more detail the local government finance framework. This includes an overview of the structure and composition of sub-national finances, in particular (i) revenue and expenditure assignments; (ii) transfers and intergovernmental fiscal relations; and (iii) the evolving framework and realities of sub-national borrowing and debt. Chapter 4 provides a summary of the key trends and findings from the cross-country, regional analysis, complemented by detailed analysis of the disaggregated datasets, where available. Finally, Chapter 5 summarizes conclusions and provides some recommendations for a possible way forward. In the medium to long term, access to municipal finance information would contribute to increasing transparency and accountability of local governments, improving revenue collection and expenditure performance, optimizing budget allocation procedures, and strengthen local authorities' role and position in intergovernmental fiscal considerations and negotiations in the SEE countries.en-USCC BY 3.0 IGOACCOUNTABILITYACCOUNTINGASSET SALESASSETSBUDGET EXECUTIONCAPACITY BUILDINGCAPITAL EXPENDITURECAPITAL EXPENDITURESCAPITALSCENTRAL GOVERNMENTCENTRAL GOVERNMENT BUDGETCENTRAL GOVERNMENT BUDGETSCENTRAL GOVERNMENTSCENTRAL TRANSFERSCITIESCITY SIZECOMMUNITY AMENITIESCOMMUNITY DEVELOPMENTCOMMUNITY HEALTHCOMPARATIVE DATACOUNCILORSCREDITWORTHINESSCURRENT EXPENDITURESDEBT MANAGEMENTDECENTRALIZATIONDECENTRALIZATION PROCESSDEVOLUTIONDISTRICTDISTRICT HEATINGEQUALIZATIONEXPENDITURE ASSIGNMENTSEXPENDITURE DATAEXPENDITURE MANAGEMENTEXPENDITURE NEEDSEXPENDITURE PER CAPITAEXPENDITURE RESPONSIBILITIESEXPENDITURES ON HEALTHEXPENDITURES PER CAPITAFINANCIAL RESOURCESFISCAL CAPACITYFISCAL DECENTRALIZATIONFISCAL DECENTRALIZATION INDICATORSFISCAL INFORMATIONFISCAL MANAGEMENTFISCAL PERFORMANCEFISCAL POLICIESFISCAL TRANSFERSGOVERNMENT DEBTGOVERNMENT SPENDINGHEALTH SERVICESHOUSINGINCOMEINFLATIONINSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENTSINSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORKINSTITUTIONAL STRUCTUREINTERGOVERNMENTAL FISCAL RELATIONSINTERGOVERNMENTAL TRANSFERSLARGE CITIESLAWSLEGISLATIONLICENSESLOCAL ADMINISTRATIONLOCAL AUTHORITIESLOCAL AUTONOMYLOCAL BUDGETSLOCAL CAPITAL EXPENDITURESLOCAL EXPENDITURELOCAL FEESLOCAL GOVERNMENTLOCAL GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATIONSLOCAL GOVERNMENT BORROWINGLOCAL GOVERNMENT BUDGETSLOCAL GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURELOCAL GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURESLOCAL GOVERNMENT FINANCELOCAL GOVERNMENT FUNCTIONSLOCAL GOVERNMENT MANAGEMENTLOCAL GOVERNMENT OFFICIALSLOCAL GOVERNMENT REVENUELOCAL GOVERNMENT REVENUESLOCAL GOVERNMENT SPENDINGLOCAL GOVERNMENT STRUCTURELOCAL GOVERNMENTSLOCAL LEVELLOCAL REVENUELOCAL SPENDINGMANDATESMAYORMAYORSMETROPOLITAN AREASMINISTRY OF FINANCEMUNICIPALMUNICIPAL CREDITMUNICIPAL DEBTMUNICIPAL FINANCEMUNICIPAL FINANCIAL MANAGEMENTMUNICIPAL INFRASTRUCTUREMUNICIPAL LEVELMUNICIPAL MANAGEMENTMUNICIPAL SERVICESMUNICIPALITIESMUNICIPALITYNATIONAL BUDGETSOUTSTANDING DEBTOWN SOURCE REVENUEPER CAPITA EXPENDITURESPOLICY MAKERSPROPERTY TAXESPROVINCEPROVISIONSPUBLICPUBLIC ADMINISTRATIONPUBLIC EDUCATIONPUBLIC EDUCATION SPENDINGPUBLIC EXPENDITUREPUBLIC EXPENDITURESPUBLIC HEALTHPUBLIC INVESTMENTPUBLIC SECTORPUBLIC SECTOR SPENDINGPUBLIC SERVICEPUBLIC SERVICE DELIVERYPUBLIC SERVICESPUBLIC SPENDINGPUBLIC TRANSPORTPUBLIC TRANSPORTATIONPUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMSPUBLIC UTILITIESREGIONAL GOVERNMENTREGIONAL GOVERNMENTSREGIONAL POLICIESREVENUE ASSIGNMENTSREVENUE COLLECTIONREVENUE ENHANCEMENTREVENUE MOBILIZATIONREVENUE SOURCESREVENUE STRUCTURERISK MANAGEMENTROADSSEWAGESIZE OF MUNICIPALITIESSMALL MUNICIPALITIESSOCIAL SERVICESSOCIAL WELFARESOLID WASTE MANAGEMENTSTREET LIGHTINGSUB-NATIONALSUB-NATIONAL DEBTSUB-NATIONAL EXPENDITURESUB-NATIONAL EXPENDITURESSUB-NATIONAL FINANCESUB-NATIONAL GOVERNMENTSUB-NATIONAL GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURESUB-NATIONAL GOVERNMENTSSUBNATIONALSUBNATIONAL GOVERNMENTSUSTAINABLE CITIESTAXTAX BASETAX EFFORTSTAX REVENUETAX REVENUESTECHNICAL ASSISTANCETOTAL CAPITAL EXPENDITURESTOTAL EXPENDITURETOTAL EXPENDITURESTOTAL LOCAL EXPENDITURESTOTAL PUBLIC EXPENDITURESTOWNTOWNSTRANSPARENCYTREASURYURBAN AREASURBAN PLANNINGURBAN SERVICESURBANIZATIONWAGESWATER SUPPLY10.1596/18965