Right and wrong paths – facts and data about local government management

Abstract

The significance played by the local governments' economy within the national economy and public finance is reflected not merely by the total value of its assets worth more than HUF 11 thousand billion or by its expenditure and revenue totalling HUF 3600 billion, rather its significance is primarily represented by the total volume of public services provided by them. Let us only focus our attention on the most important human services: in the 12 thousand budgetary organisations (half of which have independent economic management), local governments provide care for 330 thousand children in 4 thousand kindergartens, for 790 thousand pupils in three thousand primary schools, for half a million students attending two thousand grammar schools, specialised secondary schools and vocational training schools, they must safeguard the management of 45 thousand hospital beds, 30 thousand places in social welfare homes. In addition to the above, it is the local governments' responsibility to maintain a road network of 166 thousand km (out of which 31 thousand km represent roads in built-up areas), 25 thousand hectares of green area, 3300 public cemeteries, it is also their responsibility to maintain a drinking water pipeline network of 65 thousand km with several million cubic metres of water together with the indirect service of waste water disposal and treatment and also to operate dump sites for the disposal of several hundred million communal waste together with other communal services. The average citizen has a regular contact with the local governments that act on behalf of the service state when managing official affairs in various offices (office of government issued documents, office for housing and construction, tax administration, public guardianship authority). We can say that the economic management activity of the local governments is part and parcel of our everyday life “from cradle to the grave”.