More resources for municipalities, but without federalism

Abstract

The contribution analyses "More resources for municipalities, but without federalism", with attention to the context, reading instruments and the implications for policies. It finally seems to end the era of the Internal Stability Pact, since the agencies for 2016 will compete to the public finance balances through the budget draw. In particular, each institution will have to achieve a non-negative balance, in terms of competence, between final revenue and final expenditure. As we know, in fact, the principle of the “mixed competence” provided for by the rules of the Stability Pact allowed the authorities to free spending commitments (competence) while at the same time blocking payments (cass). This mechanism has determined over time the accumulation of resources committed for capital expenditure but never paid, in order to respect the Covenant. The first concerns the inclusion, among the useful aggregates for the determination of the balance, of the multiannual fund (FPV), excluding the shares financed with debt. The maneuver spaces that can actually be free will depend on the actual availability of resources of the agencies and their programming capacity.

Keywords

Local authorities; Italy; Public finance; real estate market; assessment of policies; public expenditure

JEL codes

H72; H77; H76