Financing European Local Governments (Local Government Studies)

Hardcover, vi + 159 pages, NOT ex-library. Age-stains on the upper and side outer page edges. Interior is clean and bright throughout, untanned, with unmarked text, free of inscriptions and stamps, firmly bound. Untorn dust jacket with light edgewear, faint sunning, gentl handling marks. -- This volume provides a comparative analysis of the financial structures and autonomy of local authorities across Western Europe. It captures a transformative period in European governance as nations grappled with fiscal centralization and the shifting responsibilities of the local state. The work moves beyond simple accounting to examine the political economy of local finance. It evaluates how different national systems balance the need for local service delivery with central government control over taxation and spending. - Taxation and Revenue Sources: The text analyzes the diverse methods used to fund local services, from local income taxes in Scandinavia to property-based taxes in the UK. Central-Local Relations: A major focus is the "grant system" - how central governments use financial transfers to either support or constrain local policy-making. - Fiscal Crisis and Reform: Written in the wake of the UK's controversial "Poll Tax" and similar fiscal pressures across the continent, the contributors discuss the search for more stable and equitable local funding models. - The Concept of Autonomy: The editors explore whether financial dependence on the center inevitably leads to a loss of local democratic accountability. - Regional Case Studies: The book features detailed country-specific chapters written by leading specialists, including: - United Kingdom: Examining the turbulent transition from domestic rates to the Community Charge (Poll Tax); - Germany: Analyzing the "Finanzausgleich" (fiscal equalization) system between the federal, state, and local levels; - France and Italy: Discussing the move toward decentralization and the challenges of local fiscal management in Southern Europe; - Scandinavia: Highlighting the "High-Tax, High-Service" model and its sustainability. -- Contents: Introduction: Trends in Financing European Local Governments / John Gibson & Richard Batley; Financial Equalisation Between Local and Regional Authorities in European Countries / Philip Blair; The French Decentralisation Ten Years on: Local Government Finances / Jacques Le Cacheux & Laure Tourjansky; Local Government Finance in Germany / Robert Bennett & Günter Krebs; British Local Government Finance Under the Conservatives / John Gibson; Financing Communal Government in Italy / Angela Fraschini; Financial Relations Between Central and Local Government in the Netherlands: Why Are They Different? / J.W. Van der Dussen; Municipal Public Finance in the Nordic Countries / Lasse Oulasvirta; The Finance of Spanish Local Governments and Its Recent Reform / Angels Santigosa. …