As reported by Bolesławiec City Hall, during a convention of commune heads, mayors, city presidents and district heads from the Jelenia Góra region and part of the Legnica region, a position was developed concerning the threat to the financial foundations of local government units. On 7 November in Piechowice, Bolesławiec President Piotr Roman and other local government officials adopted the convention’s position, addressed to the government:

By 15 November 2019, commune heads, mayors, city presidents and district boards must submit draft budget resolutions for 2020 to their councils and the Regional Chamber of Audit. This statutory obligation will be fulfilled, but balancing the budget will require communes and districts to raise local taxes and fees and, in the case of districts, reduce current expenditure and limit investment, modernization and repairs of municipal infrastructure.

Shifting the costs of government policy onto local governments, most often by increasing social transfers, leads to a higher share of grants while reducing own-source revenues. At the same time, we are being affected by decreases in personal income tax revenues, the effects of wage increases, for example in education and healthcare, the effects of raising the minimum wage and changing the rules for calculating it (and local government is Poland’s largest employer!), increases in energy prices resulting in higher service costs, and the constant underfunding of delegated tasks. The lack of compensation for these reduced revenues and the increased costs of carrying out statutory commune and district responsibilities directly leads to a deterioration in the quality of life of the residents of our small homelands.

We call for an amendment to the Act on the Revenues of Local Government Units, respecting the constitutional principle that revenues should be adequate to the tasks entrusted to local governments (Article 167(1) of the Constitution of the Republic of Poland).

What do you think? We invite you to join the discussion.

We will return to this topic.