Municipalities And Finance

* Provides solutions for analyzing problems and building municipal finance capacity in development contexts * Presents real-life examples of innovative practice from a variety of countries * Ideal for municipal financial managers, donors and development practitioners Finance and the effective delivery of services at the local level, particularly for the poor, are critical issues for local governments around the world particularly as powers and responsibilities are increasingly decentralized to municipal governments. This sourcebook provides a framework for analyzing municipal finance capacity and ways of addressing financial constraints. The ideas come from real-life innovative practice in four countries--India, Brazil, Kenya and Uganda--with examples from elsewhere. Emphasis is given to how those innovations and improvements were developed and sustained. The book identifies a strategic framework for diagnosing municipal finance capacity and focusing financial goals, and it applies the analysis to a number of critical areas of municipal finance including local taxes, charges for services, budgeting, cost control, accounting reforms, and investment finance. Related titles: This is the third in a series of capacity-building sourcebooks. The companion sourcebooks are: Focusing Partnerships: A Sourcebook for Municipal Capacity Building in Public-Private Partnerships ISBN 1-85383-838-1 Municipalities and Community Participation: A Sourcebook for Capacity Building ISBN 1-85383-744-X

Richard Slater is Senior Governance and Institutional Development Consultant at GHK International.