Changes in the financing of municipalities and local governments of selected cities: possible effects on disintegration processes and municipal policy

Abstract

of municipalities in the Czech Republic in the era of socialism. This was a consequence of the application of the central system of settlement, which was based on Christaller’s theory of central places. In connection with the changes after 1989, there was a disintegration of such integrated communities and the situation has since stabilized. A number of small villages were renewed but cities with inhabitants of a hundred thousand (population of these cities oscillates around a hundred thousand inhabitants) did not experience such processes. Due to this fact the big cities in the Czech Republic are typical for their larger size because they also administrate smaller residential units of rural characteristics, often many kilometers from the city centers. These administrative parts of the cities are managed in different ways. In connection with the manifestations of suburbanization during the past twenty years, the transformation of the social structure of the inhabitants in these “suburbs” and changes in rules of municipal budgetary allocation of taxes (hereinafter BAT) there is the question of sustainability and stability of such defi ned borders of municipalities. The paper presents opinions on the development of the fi nancing system and attempts to analyze the motives of the peripheral parts of selected cities with inhabitants of a hundred thousand to remain part of or separate from these cities. In connection with changes in the BAT made on 1st January 2013, the fi nancial motive can have an important role. The main aim of the paper will be a comparison of the current fi nancial income of these municipalities with previous periods in relation to changes in the BAT and assess the impact of these changes on the potential disintegration processes and municipal politics. The process of urban disintegration and creation of a new municipality is not easy and is provided for in the legal system of the Czech Republic. The paper also gives an overview of this legislation. The authors focus on the cities of Olomouc and Pardubice. The whole study follows on detailed research of the suburban zones and its development in the hinterlands of cities with about 100 thousand inhabitants. Theoretical results are confronted with a real situation in municipalities, the main source of information from practice were structured interviews with representatives of 20 municipalities, mainly mayors. 1. Theoretical Background