BINA: The role of municipalities in the state administration should be strengthened

BAKU/23.04.14/TURAN Alliance of NGOs " For the development of municipalities » (BINA) held a conference on "Municipalities in Azerbaijan: the actual situation and the possibility of reform."

During the event, the participants discussed the suggestions of experts to transform the alliance of local governments in the actual structure of local authorities, whose role in the system of governance today is almost imperceptible.

In particular, said that much of the authority of municipalities is duplicated. So of the 23 powers of municipalities only two are exceptional. Moreover, almost all of them are committed to local authorities. In addition, the financial ability of municipalities is severely limited. Their total income in 2012 amounted to 35.8 million manat and their share in the consolidated budget is 0.2 percent. Subsidy transfers to municipalities from the state budget are 5.2 million manat per year.

For the development of municipalities the alliance offers to give them control of drinking water in rural areas, delegate authority for the collection and transportation of waste, improve the mechanism for calculating property tax, give municipalities collect property tax from legal entities, mutual enforce the tax system.

The first municipal elections were held in Azerbaijan in 1999. In 2010, in order to increase the effectiveness of their number of municipalities was reduced from 2,757 local governments at various levels to 1,718 municipal structures. But nothing has changed in the municipalities that are still under the dense tutelage of the executive power. -15C-