Poland: Local governments demand more funds for state-assigned tasks amid funding dispute

A significant financial dispute is escalating between Poland's central government and its local authorities over the funding of state-assigned tasks. Local governments argue they are shouldering billions of zlotys annually to cover the costs of duties mandated by the state, leading them to seek justice in the courts.

This issue is set to be a key topic at the upcoming meeting of the joint government-local government commission on public finance. While central government budgets allocated for these tasks have increased, local authorities contend that the rise in central government spending does not adequately cover their growing expenses. Hanna Majszczyk, Deputy Minister of Finance, noted that this year, provincial governors have 26.4 billion zloty for assigned tasks, an increase of 1.4 billion zloty from the previous year, with an additional 700 million zloty reserve.

“

The statement by the minister was a bit like something out of Gombrowicz or Lem, suggesting that provincial governors should discuss the issue of underfunding of assigned tasks individually with each local government.

Majszczyk also highlighted legislative changes aimed at improving the subsidy system. New provisions in the Public Finance Act allow for the reallocation of funds within provincial budgets for government administration tasks. This flexibility aims to enable quicker adjustments to funding proportions at the provincial level, responding to situations where one area might be overfunded while another is underfunded.

However, Marek Wójcik, an expert from the Union of Polish Cities and the local government representative on the commission, expressed skepticism. He described the minister's remarks as detached from the reality of underfunding. Wójcik has formally proposed government-local government discussions on the organization and financing of these assigned tasks, indicating that the matter will be raised again at the next meeting of the public finance team within the commission. The local government sector is open to dialogue to find a more equitable financial arrangement.

“

We should talk.