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Financing Decentralized Development in a Low‐Income Country: Raising Revenue for Local Government in Uganda
Author(s) -
Livingstone Ian,
Charlton Roger
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
development and change
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.267
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1467-7660
pISSN - 0012-155X
DOI - 10.1111/1467-7660.00197
Subject(s) - decentralization , revenue , local government , raising (metalworking) , business , economics , economic policy , finance , government revenue , tax revenue , government (linguistics) , politics , financial management , service (business) , service delivery framework , economic growth , public economics , public administration , political science , market economy , economy , linguistics , philosophy , mathematics , law , geometry
Uganda has been engaged for a number of years in an ambitious programme of political and financial decentralization involving significantly expanded expenditure and service delivery responsibilities for local governments in what are now forty‐five districts. Fiscal decentralization has involved allocation of block grants from the centre to complement increased local tax revenue‐raising efforts by districts and municipalities. This article is concerned with the financial side of decentralization and in particular with an examination of district government efforts to raise revenue with the tax instruments which have been assigned to them. These are found to be deficient in a number of ways and their tax raising potential not to be commensurate with the responsibilities being devolved. Achievement of the decentralization aims laid down, therefore, must depend either on the identification of new or modified methods of raising revenue locally, or increased commitment to transfer of financial resources from the centre, or both.