Nivelación financiera municipal en Suiza y algunas sugerencias para los municipios rurales de España

Abstract

The financing of small and medium-sized municipalities is one of the relevant factors in the public strategy against rural depopulation. One of the lessons learned from the experience of other countries is the implementation of specific funding mechanisms that cater precisely to the specific characteristics and needs of small or rural municipalities. This article analyses the case of Switzerland, using the example of the cantons of Zurich and Bern. It should be borne in mind that in the Swiss federal structure, local financing, as well as all matters relating to local government, is an exclusive competence of the cantons. Examples of typologies of revenue source structures are analysed, and the particularities of the sophisticated model of financial equalisation, which is present at both cantonal and municipal level (and concerns both revenue equalisation and different types of compensation for special charges), are highlighted. It concludes with some lessons that can be drawn from the Swiss experience.