Public Finance In The Territorial Entities That Make Up Colombia

Public finance in the territorial entities that make up Colombia

Introduction

The municipalities of our country end up being the territorial entities whose main source of resources is the General Participation System (SGP). These resources are transferred from the central level to governments or administrations of departments, districts and municipalities.

The distribution of these resources from the Nation is framed in our Political Charter, according to articles 356 and 357.

With these resources, territorial entities have the opportunity to finance projects that are aimed at supply.

The purpose of administrative decentralization promulgated in the 1991 Constitution was to obtain departments, districts and municipalities with autonomy that allowed the state to demarcate and change the paternal figure that provided everything, but at present that has not been achieved becauseThere are many municipalities whose income does not allow it to achieve a financial balance or autonomy and must irremediably must resort to the central government to survive and this becomes more noticeable or evident in the municipalities cataloged as a sixth category.

Categorization of territorial entities

The categorization of the municipalities in Colombia is a classification made by the State according to its population and their current income of free destination.

ICLD are tax and non -tax income, excluding specific destination income, that is, those destined by law or administrative act to a specific purpose.

Categorization of municiíos according to current and free income (ICLD) and/or population 

To achieve a more modern municipality that can ensure fulfillof resources and full compliance with the Constitution and laws.

When private interests do not prevail over the generals, when they work without political and economic meanness and all regions are seen in the same way, the levels of inequality will be reduced and our municipalities will reach more dignified and relevant categories.

The municipality is the fundamental territorial entity within the administrative political scheme of the State, which must have autonomy in all aspects to know: political, fiscal and administrative taking into account that there are limits that indicates or defines the Political Constitution and knowing that theThe only valid end must be general well -being and the improvement of the quality of life of the settlers in their territory.

A factor that is taken into account for the distribution of resources in Colombia is unfortunately the electoral issue and that is why the arrival of resources to territorial entities is subject to the results that the elections yield, especially those that define a president orThe conformation of a Senate. Very frequently, the trilliad phrase of how the “electoral map” of the country.

We can say that the municipality has a similarity to the State because it has the same elements of this, but it is not autonomous or sovereign, it is dependent, to endorse this concept I mention a piece of the book The Colombian municipality, written by Fernando Galvis Gaitan:

“The municipalities, such as the State, have territory, subjects and an independent power. But they are distinguished from the State in which the municipality does not have an original imperium, but has been provided by the State. Every imperium of a municipality is derived, even those rights of sovereignty that have been granted as their own rights. Those of sovereignty of the municipality are never original rights. Its territory is at the same time, territory of the State, its subjects, subjects of the State and its power is subject to the State ”

Our Colombian municipalities have authority and their measures or provisions are valid in a certain area, what we all know with jurisdiction.

The importance and positioning of a municipality does not have to do its geographical or territorial size because in our country there are examples of very large or extensive municipalities in territory that do not have a sufficient number of population and do not reach an important income of income compared to comparisonother extremely small municipalities, which could fit several times in them.

Decentralization 

In the words of the Honorable Constitutional Court, decentralization is:

Decentralization is a form of administrative organization typical of the states in a unitary way, which attenuates centralization allowing the transfer of powers to organisms other than central power, which acquire autonomy in the management of the respective functions. However, this transfer does not imply the total breakdown of the link between the central power and the decentralized entity, but, in order to guarantee the principle of coordination that governs the administrative function, said link remains in force through the so -called guardianship control,existing in our administrative organization regarding the functionally decentralized entities, with defined legal profiles, from the constitutional and administrative reform operated in 1968 (Constitutional Court, Judgment C-727/00, M, M.P. Vladimiro Naranjo Mesa).

A characteristic in which the majority of Colombian municipalities coincide is the level of indebtedness, which has resulted in many municipalities, including some of the highest category even of special, constitute dependent ties with the central government going against the spirit ofDecentralization and autonomy.

The municipalities cannot and should not pretend that their main financing appeal remains the central government, going back in the development of decentralization and embolassing the ideal of obtaining a budgetary autonomy that allow them to manage their own resources and also those that arrive from the nation.

The territorial entities of our country must guarantee their population the services of education, health, drinking water and basic sanitation and thus contribute to reducing poverty due to unsatisfied basic needs. They have their own resources, current income of the Nation, general royalty system and execute a good percentage of the country’s total investment.

Decentralization has not adequately and efficiently achieved the planned results because there is still a very important portion of municipalities and departments that have not been ableNor have they achieved continuity with the quality of health services and the situation is aggravated when many of these municipalities are beneficiaries of royalty resources and despite this the results are precarious.

There is poor management of administrators and worryingly accentuated the generalized practices of corruption and clientelism, government efforts are not enough to end these scourges that vehemently permeate institutionality.

It is necessary to improve management and strengthen investment monitoring schemes and increase social control.

The main purpose of territorial decentralization must be focused on resources to reach the poorest and most vulnerable population, effectively contributing to poverty reduction and reach the development goals of the nation.

Budget autonomy of the municipalities

What are the municipalities that reach a budgetary autonomy?

First of all we must be clear about the concept of budgetary autonomy:

In my opinion is the capacity of a municipality to plan, program, present a budget freely, without interference from another or other official or public entities based on the identification of the needs of a population having the possibility of executing theResources assigned in coherence with the priorities that this municipality has determined, harmoniously and fulfilling constitutional precepts.

I could say that the municipalities that reach a budgetary autonomy are those called first and special category and that coincide with being department capitals and having a population greater than 100.000 inhabitants, but before the levels of indebtedness that are sometimes subjected, several of these better categorized municipalities end up requesting lifeguards to the central government, leaving aside their financial autonomy.

It is clear that the highest category of the municipalities, ICLD income is lower because their collections are also precarious and social investment can only arrive when the leaders are efficient in management with other state entities, to arrive through projects to be resolvedThe problems of their fellow citizens.

conclusion

In the development of this essay I want to show that there is a challenge that the territorial entities must adopt to be able.991 and other current standards.

But that challenge is even greater when a whole population is hopeful and eager for solutions to overcome social inequality and lower poverty levels with sufficient financing of investment projects that allow them to meet the unsatisfied basic needs.

Bibliography

• Galvis Gaitan, Fernando, the Colombian municipality. Santa Fe de Bogota. Themis
• Ángel Faraco, Gabriel Jaime, 1999. Public Finance, the National Budget: Compilation of the main budgetary standards. Medellín, Dike Legal Library.
• Herrera Llanos, Wilson, 2002. "Municipal regime in Colombia: continuation of the topic on territorial organization", in Journal of Law, no. 18, Barranquilla, September, pp. 214-274.
• Restrepo Salazar, Juan Camilo, 2006. The rescue of territorial finances;Bogotá, Konrad Adenauer.
• Restrepo Salazar, Juan Camilo, 1999. New directions for decentralization: diagnosis and perspectives. Bogotá, Ministry of Finance and Public Credit.