Municipalities’ operating costs spike in Q1

The external operating expenses of municipalities in mainland Finland went up by 2.1 per cent, while the external operating revenue grew by 1.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2020 from that in the corresponding period of last year, according to Statistics Finland.

. Municipalities’ tax revenue totalled EUR 6.2 billion and central government transfers to local government EUR 2.5 billion.

The year-on-year external operating expenses of joint municipal authorities grew by 2.5 per cent in the quarter, while their operating revenue decreased by 0.4 per cent.

These data were collected from 80 municipalities and 69 joint municipal authorities in mainland Finland.

The external operating expenses of municipalities in mainland Finland amounted to EUR 9.5 billion in January to March 2020 and the external operating revenue amounted to EUR 1.6 billion. The increase in operating expenses in the quarter was 2.1 per cent and in operating revenue by 1.1 per cent compared to that in the first quarter of the previous year.

Municipalities’ tax revenue grew by 1.3 per cent year on year in the first quarter of this year, amounting to EUR 6.2 billion. The year-on year central government-transfers increased by 10.9 per cent to EUR 2.5 billion in the quarter. Of these two items, tax funding was EUR 1,585 per capita. The combined annual contribution margin of municipalities improved slightly from that of 12 months back.

Investment expenditure in the January to March period totalled EUR 0.6 billion in the municipalities of mainland Finland. The growth from the previous year’s January to March period was 7.6 per cent. At the end of March, municipalities’ combined loan stock stood at EUR 19.1 billion or EUR 3,481 per capita. The loan stock grew by 3.8 per cent from that at the end of December 2019.

The external operating expenses of joint municipal authorities in mainland Finland totalled EUR 3.8 billion in January to March, 2020, which was 2.5 per cent more than that in the first quarter of 2019 while external operating revenue decreased by 0.4 per cent to EUR 4.1 billion.

Joint municipal authorities spent EUR 0.3 billion in investments during the first quarter of 2020. The year-on-year investment expenditure in the quarter marked a 16.9 per cent rise. At the end of March, the loan stock totalled EUR 4.8 billion. It grew by 2.9 per cent from that at the turn of the year.