Financial autonomy of local government is the freedom to impose local taxation, generate revenue. Commentary local government financial autonomy in nigeria. The term is used to contrast with offices at state level, which are referred to as the central government, national government, or where appropriate federal government and also to supranational government which deals with governing. Local government handbook new york department of state. On the expenditure side, local spending may be strongly influenced by upper level government regulation, thereby reducing discretion over various expenditure items. I also believe that this financial autonomy, along with the generally strong financial position of councils, was a key factor in the then governments rejection of nearly all of the recommendations of the 2007 rates inquiry. Department of public administration ahmadu bello university, kongocampus, zaria kaduna state, nigeria. The report also identifies successful governance mechanisms for efficient. Assembly that a bill seeking for local governments financial autonomy. Intergovernmental financial relations and local government.
In conclusion, the authors pointed out that lack of independence of the local governments is as a result of lack of fiscal autonomy which in turn explains the. In addition, the financial relationship of local government appear to be more of their making as well as those of the state governments. The council set up a committee on augmentation of financial resources of urban local bodies in 1965. The urban council is comprised of the governing bodies for townships, municipalities and city council commission. Pdf on jan 1, 2016, barisua barry nkomah and others published local government financial autonomy. Introduction the existence of local government has always been defended on the basis that it is a crucial aspect of the process of democratization and intensification of mass participation in the decisionmaking process. New york state has a tradition of home rule authority and providing citizens with a strong voice in their local governments. The scope and future of local government autonomy in nigeria. Former president olusegun obasanjo has described state governments still opposing the local government autonomy bill already passed by the national assembly as. In local government, governance requires intensive interaction and problem solving with community. Local government autonomy local government autonomy refers to freedom in terms of functions and financial management at the grassroot level.
Conceptual exploration decentralization is defined in a variety of ways. To the extent in which a local government benefits from. Local government, authority to determine and execute measures within a restricted area inside and smaller than a whole state. Local governance system encompasses many actors, namely local government, public sector, private sector and civil society, and the traditions, rules and institutions. Fiscal decentralization is an important influence factor on the autonomy of local government. In this respect, we can see low levels of this indicator in 20012004, followed by a doubling of 2005 and since then a slight increase until 2008. Local government and fiscal autonomy for local government. Local government in south africa is inundated with a variety of challenges including the inability to facilitate and enhance development in the communities under which the municipalities serve. It means the power to manage its affairs locally and make provision for services. The current structure of the local government system is relatively new. Local government system in namibia home grn portal. Local government and fiscal autonomy for local government in. Pdf on jan 1, 2005, maciej turala and others published measuring the financial autonomy of local governments with a local autonomy index find, read and. Local government, fiscal autonomy and fiscal stress.
Most of the town councils cannot balance their budgets without substantial transfers from the central government or donors, and their financial autonomy, in general, is limited. Intergovernmental financial relations and local government autonomy in nigeria. Pdf measuring the financial autonomy of local governments with a. Therefore some of the standards will not be applicable when the competency.
Zever abstract the focus of the paper is on autonomy induced governance problems of local government. Some degree of local government characterizes every country in the world, although the degree is extremely significant. The variant, local selfgovernment, is important for. This paper addresses the statutory financial relations and financial autonomy of local government in nigeria, and the freedom of local government to generate revenue from its assigned sources. The objective of this study is to examine local government financial autonomy and how local councils can be free from induce interference by the state, especially in the area of operation, statelocal government joint account which gives the state government undue advantage over local government.
Home rule for municipal and county governments is now available in most states. Intergovernmental relations and the local government. Chapter 2 meaning, nature and scope of local governments. Olowu says local government should have some degree of sovereignty or what some people call autonomy. This includes political, financial and administrative autonomy. Second, it abrogated the ministry of local government and third, introduced the legislative and executive. Local government autonomy university of north texas.
Local government administration in nigeria has been in existence since 1972 and its primary function is to bring government nearer to the people at the grassroots. This report an outcome of an expert group meeting held on the challenge of local government financing in developing countries documents both the challenges and solutions related to the ability of local governments to mobilize revenues from local resources. The role of local government in rural development issues jide ibietan abstract the central aim or focus of this paper is to highlight the role of local government being the closest tier of government to the grassroots in rural development. The link between financial autonomy and local development. The challenges of the 21st century second global report on decentralization and local democracy gold ii 2 0 10 united cities and local governments cites et gouvernements locaux unis ciudades y gobiernos locales unidos edward elgar cheltenham, uk northampton, ma, usa. Revenue autonomy is frequently equated with local governments right to create sources of revenues. Financial management of local governments in poland. In some countries, the transfer of financial responsibility for education or health care was hardly.
White paper on local government home page cooperative. It revealed that there is a remarkably difference between local government autonomy and democratic governance in nigeria and usa. Developmental local government challenges and progress in. Decentralization and the increased autonomy in local. However, we believe that the financial dependence of local governments to the central is still high, minimum degree of local autonomy is of 16.
Since 2010 government has sought to make the local government funding system more locally based, phasing out general government grant altogether. Intergovernmental relations and the local government fiscal framework introduction south africa has an intergovernmental system that is based on the principle of cooperation between the three spheres of government local, provincial and national. Chapter 7 local government status of municipalities 151. Fiscal autonomy empowers the local government units with the right means to provide better services for the community and to proper allocate the funds based. Financial side of local autonomy emerges from the definition offered by the european charter of local selfgovernment and shall result in conferring certain powers and responsibilities to local authorities. Local government urban authorities act of 1982 act number 8 of 1982 provides for the establishment, composition, functions and legislative powers of the urban based local government authorities urban councils in tanzania. We also use cluster analysis to create a classification scheme for different forms of local government autonomy. Local government administration in nigeria has been in existence since 1972 and its primary function is to bring government nearer to. Slavinskaite, 20, socalled local financial autonomy. Local governments are not sovereign unlike independence nationstate. Local government administration in nigeria is classified as the third tier of government while several problems have been its recurring decimal and various reforms since 1976 havent been able to make the system effective and responsible to developmental challenges. The new york state department of state division of local government services.
Local gov ernment autonomy could therefore be defined as the ability of the local government to take some political, economic and social decisions without recourse to any of the two superstruc. A local government is, at the grassroots level of administration, meant. The study adopted secondary source of collecting data. It revealed that there is a remarkably difference between local government autonomy and. A local government is a form of public administration which, in a majority of contexts, exists as the lowest tier of administration within a given state. Finally, by using our local government autonomy index and.
Section 1 8, 9 and 10 of the decree subordinates the financial fortunes of the local government to the full glare and sometimes, scrutiny of the state government. Politics and challenges of the 1999 constitution asaju, k. By state constitutional and or general law provisions, 48 states grant home rule au thority to municipalities and 37 states grant such powers to counties. Marcos regime 19721986 the imposition of martial law in 1972, which abolished local elections and vested in the dictator the powers to appoint local officials who were beholden to him, was a great setback for the local autonomy movement 1973 constitution rhetorically committed itself to policy of local autonomy local government. The paper examined a comparative analysis of local government autonomy and democratic governance in nigeria and usa. Comparing local government autonomy across states comparing. The white paper on local government 9 march 1998 the white paper is dedicated to the memory of tshepiso mashinini 19661998, chairperson of the white paper working committee, and all the other women and men who contributed to the building of a democratic system of. Financial autonomy can be considered in terms of revenue autonomy, expenditure autonomy or their combination 6. The problem of local governments autonomy, including financial autonomy, has been extensively covered in the literature. Pdf local government financial autonomy in nigeria. Automatically, the financial autonomy returns the local government bodies in competent and responsible in the well management of local finances, which means that local units decide on those issues they consider as priorities and which are most urgent needs of local citizens, to allocate their funds.
1453 720 587 1242 1042 875 1372 517 1423 390 1482 683 1031 415 986 1392 582 773 226 641 818 912 369 923 1149 1497 711 534 672 82 323