Local Tax Equalisation in England: An Empirical Analysis

1989 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 245-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
G A Boyne
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Empirical Analysis ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Government Finance ◽  
Local Authorities ◽  
Main Obstacle ◽  
Local Taxes ◽  
Local Government Finance ◽  
Proportional Rate ◽  
New System

In this paper the effectiveness of local tax equalisation across English local authorities since 1981 is evaluated. Two specific aims of equalisation policies are identified. Proportional rate equalisation implies that variations in needs and resources should be neutralised and that tax levels should depend on local spending decisions. Strict rate equalisation implies that local taxes should not exceed the levels specified by central government. The statistical evidence indicates that neither of these aims has been achieved since 1981. The main obstacles to proportional rate equalisation are differences in grant funding and inadequate compensation for variations in needs and resources. The main obstacle to strict rate equalisation is incrementalism in local budgeting. The implications of the planned reforms of local government finance are analysed. It is concluded that equalisation may be more effective under the new system of local taxes and central grants.

“Battered and Shattered”: Lloyd George and the 1914 Budget Fiasco

1991 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 483-507 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruce K. Murray
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Political Strategy ◽  
Government Finance ◽  
Local Authorities ◽  
Local Government Finance ◽  
Reform Program ◽  
Original Plan ◽  
Major Reform ◽  
The Commons ◽  
New System

In June 1914 David Lloyd George, Liberal Chancellor of the Exchequer, capitulated to opposition from within his own party and withdrew from the Budget for 1914–15 his proposals to revise the system of Exchequer grants to local authorities and to establish land value rating. Withdrawal was a considerable political humiliation for Lloyd George. “His stock stands low in the party,” commented his friend, Lord Riddell, in his diary. “The Budget has been a fiasco.” What went wrong with the 1914 Budget is the concern of this article.Lloyd George's 1914 Budget incorporated two distinct strategies. The first comprised a fiscal strategy designed to provide in a single “taxing” Budget for the needs of both the Navy and the reorganization of local government finance and taxation. The second constituted part of a wider political strategy intended to furnish a reform program that would enable the Liberals to make a powerful progressive appeal at the next general election, due by the end of 1915. The first was supposed to serve the second, but in the event had the opposite result. It prompted Lloyd George to abandon his original plan of building up to a major reform Budget in 1915 and to proceed instead to include in the 1914 Budget “provisional” grants to local authorities before he had prepared the groundwork, administratively, legislatively or politically, for a new system of grants and rating. At all levels, the enterprise was premature, and simply presented a group of discontented wealthy Liberals in the Commons with the opportunity to stage an effective protest against the direction of Liberal finance.

Localism and local government finance

2011 ◽  
Vol 26 (8) ◽  
pp. 684-689 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike Curtis
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Government Finance ◽  
Local Authorities ◽  
Local Government Finance ◽  
And Control

This article surveys a number of key elements of the government's localism agenda, particularly as it relates to local government finance. It concludes that this is a genuine attempt to free up local authorities to innovate and control their own resources, but that the toxic climate and emphasis on central guidance may undermine it.

scholarly journals Baby steps: The expanding financial base of local government in Ireland

2015 ◽  
Vol 63 (2) ◽  
pp. 119-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Considine ◽  
Theresa Reidy
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Essential Elements ◽  
Local Authorities ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
Local Government Finance ◽  
Local Funding ◽  
Financial Base ◽  
Political Economic ◽  
The Impact

Abstract There are two essential elements to this paper. In the first instance, we explore the specific details of revenue and expenditure trends for local authorities over the last decade. The analysis is framed against a longer-term political context of forty years which focuses especially on the weakness of local government in Ireland. Despite an official narrative of financial overdependence on central government, the comparative examination of budgetary records of local authorities reveals considerable diversity in both the revenue and expenditure patterns of authorities across the state. While some authorities are heavily reliant on central government funding, others have a much stronger base of local funding, and indeed the financial crisis since 2008 may have increased these differences. The second dimension to the research is an exploration of the impact of the great recession from 2008 on local government finance in Ireland. Using a framework of new institutionalism, we identify the crisis as another critical moment for local government. We consider the political, economic and administrative variables which have brought local government to a financial crossroads, and we explore the potential for long-lasting financial change in local government, as well as speculating on the nature and outcome of that change.

scholarly journals The Covid-19 pandemic and local government finance: Czechia and Slovakia

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (5) ◽  
pp. 837-846 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juraj Nemec ◽  
David Špaček
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Government Finance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Local Public Finance ◽  
Local Government Finance ◽  
Available Information ◽  
National Governments ◽  
Leading Question

PurposeThe current Covid-19 crisis research focuses especially on epidemiologic and macro-level socioeconomic aspects. It only marginally covers impacts on local budgets. Our intention is to enrich the existing limited debate on this dimension.Design/methodology/approachThis paper uses a qualitative research approach and is based on secondary research and information available in restrictive regulations of national governments, data published by governmental bodies, international statistics and media articles published before 30 June 2020. The authors also conducted six non-structured online interviews with the leading question: “How do you see the current and future impacts of the pandemic on local public finance?”FindingsAvailable information on Czechia and Slovakia indicates that the level of municipal fiscal imbalance as the result of the Covid-19 crisis is not proportional to the situation on the central level, and municipal financial resources are not commensurate with their responsibilities as outlined by the constitution and the law. Because the reaction of the central government in both countries to this situation has been inadequate, municipalities will face problems with service delivery in some areas, especially in culture and sport.Originality/valueThe authors enrich the growing debate about the current Covid-19 crisis and its consequences and focus on local government finance in two selected countries from Central and Eastern Europe.

Paying for Local Government: An Appraisal of the British Government's Proposals for Nondomestic Rates

1987 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-98 ◽  
Author(s):  
R Jackman
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Green Paper ◽  
British Government ◽  
Government Finance ◽  
Local Authorities ◽  
Local Government Finance ◽  
Local Residents

In its recent Green Paper on local government finance, the British Government has proposed that the existing system of nondomestic rates be replaced by a uniform and centrally determined rate poundage. This idea has merit in principle in that it could improve the accountability of local authorities to local residents. But it is argued that the particular proposals in the Green Paper are deficient in ignoring the need for accountability in services provided to local businesses, and in failing to examine the rationale for retaining business rates within a reformed system.

PERIMBANGAN KEUANGAN ANTARA PEMERINTAH PUSAT DENGAN PEMERINTAH DAERAH DALAM PENGELOLAAN KEUANGAN DAERAH

2016 ◽  
Vol 42 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Edward Hutagalung
Keyword(s):  
Local Government ◽  
Central Government ◽  
Local Authorities ◽  
Fiscal Capacity ◽  
Regional Autonomy ◽  
The Public ◽  
Delegation Of Authority ◽  
Regional Authority ◽  
Local Sources ◽  
Tax Sharing

The fi nancial relationship between central and local government can be defi ned as a system that regulates how some funds were divided among various levels of government as well as how to fi ndsources of local empowerment to support the activities of the public sector.Fiscal decentralization is the delegation of authority granted by the central government to theregions to make policy in the area of   fi nancial management.One of the main pillars of regional autonomy is a regional authority to independently manage thefi nancial area. State of Indonesia as a unitary state of Indonesia adheres to a combination of elementsof recognition for local authorities to independently manage fi nances combined with the element oftransferring fi scal authority and supervision of the fi scal policy area.General Allocation Fund an area allocated on the basis of the fi scal gap and basic allocation whilethe fi scal gap is reduced by the fi scal needs of local fi scal capacity. Fiscal capacity of local sources offunding that comes from the area of   regional revenue and Tax Sharing Funds outside the ReforestationFund.The results showed that the strengthening of local fi scal capacity is in line with regional autonomy.

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