Expenditures for Employees within Local Unit Budget

Abstract

Purpose of the article is to research the effecting and share of expenditures for employees within the expenditures and expenses of local and regional self-government units, make conclusions on their significance and determine the tendency of changes in said expenditures and expenses in the period from 2015 to 2017. This paper determines the share of expenditures for employees in effected expenditures at the level of all units and the share of expenditures for employees in total expenditures and expenses at each level, i.e. at the county, town and municipality level. The amount and share of expenditures for employees in total expenditures of each county in the Republic of Croatia is examined as well.

Method used in the paper is the analysis of total expenditures and expenses of all local units combined with relative figures (indices) and percentages. The method of comparing collected data for the period from 2015 to 2017 is used as well. Based on the collected data, all data has been consolidated and conclusions on changes in the expenditures for employees at particular levels of government, as well for each county, have been drawn. Data used in this research is the data of the Ministry of Finance, which is available on its webpages relating to budget execution at individual levels of government, as well as data collected from scientific literature.

Scientific aim is to research the amount of total effected expenditures by individual levels of government and to research the share of individual counties in total effected expenditures. The hypothesis is that the expenditures for employees have a significant share in total effected expenditures and expenses at the local unit level. Said expenditures must be monitored to determine how they change because local units must meet the public needs under their competence by using available budget funds.

Findings confirm the hypothesis that the share of expenditures for employees at the level of individual local units varies and that said share is significant. The share of expenditures for employees in total effected expenditures and expenses has decreased. Expenditures for employees at the municipality level have the most significant share in total effected expenditures and expenses of all local units. Expenditures for employees at the level of individual counties are significant and their share in individual counties varies.

Conclusions relate to the necessity of decreasing expenditures for employees in total expenditures and expenses. The larger the share of expenditures for employees in total expenditures and expenses, the lower the amount of funds available to local units for financing other expenditures. Based on the conducted research of the amount of effected expenditures and expenses at the county level, it is visible that operating expenditures account for the most significant share in total effected expenditures and expenses, i.e. that a smaller portion of budget funds can be spent on other expenditures within the budget. Research presented in this paper is aimed at financial indicators, whereas future research should be aimed at determining the number of employees in local units. The number of employees is not easily reduced, especially in times of ever-increasing development of computer technology. State and public institutions depend on IT systems and state auditors must pay attention to the reliability of computer data that is processed, maintained and reported through IT systems.