The concept and main features of the municipality

One of the manifestations of democracy is local government. Such entities are designed to address a wide range of issues, but at the local level. The functioning of self-government is recognized and guaranteed by federal law.

History reference

The institute of self-government in Russia appeared in the Middle Ages. Active development was in the second half of the XIX century. But with the advent of Soviet power, all politics was based on the centralization of power, dual subordination began, under which the abolition of decisions of lower bodies by higher authorities became not uncommon. A new wave of development of local self-government occurred in the 80s of the last century.

One of the fundamental factors of self-government at the local level is the municipality.

Concept and signs

Municipal formation - a territorial unit on which local government is organized. Also mandatory features of a municipality are:

the presence of municipal property;
budget;
populated area;
self-government bodies selected by the local population.

Municipal law (No. 131-ФЗ) classifies municipal entities as follows:

name	a brief description of
Urban settlement	The structure may include not only a city, but also several villages united by a single and elected self-government
Rural settlement	units may include: villages, towns, farms, villages, villages, auls
Municipal District	settlements and / or inter-settlement territories, the authorities of which decide inter-settlement issues, the powers of self-government can be determined by separate legislative acts
Urban district	the main feature of a municipality - such a settlement is not part of the municipal district
Intracity territory of the city of federal significance	a certain part of the territory of the city having the status of federal significance

Each municipality has an administrative center. It is in such a territorial unit that the majority of state bodies are concentrated. The location of such a center is determined taking into account local customs and traditions, social infrastructure, which is further fixed at the level of legislation.

In 2014, Law No. 136 introduced two more concepts and signs of a municipality:

urban district with intracity division;
intracity district.

Some statistics

As of January 1 of this year, there are 22, 327 municipalities in Russia, but the figure is constantly changing, as the reform is still ongoing.

Municipal areas	1784
Urban districts	567
of them, with intracity division		3
Intracity areas	19
Intracity territories of cities of federal significance	267
Settlements	19690
of them
urban settlements		1589
rural settlements		18101

Territory and borders

The territories of municipalities include absolutely all lands, regardless of the purpose of the plots and the form of ownership.

One of the hallmarks of a municipality is its border. The charter of education necessarily defines the boundaries. Their establishment and change can be carried out by abolishing individual territorial units, by combining, transforming, but with the obligatory consideration of local customs and traditions.

Change of borders is possible on the initiative of:

locals;
representatives of local government;
and by decision of public authorities.

In the latter case, state authorities are obliged to provide guarantees for the entire population and take into account their opinion.

If we are talking about intracity entities, then the issue of borders is resolved at the level of urban self-government. These powers should be spelled out in the charter, and naturally, the opinion of the local population should be taken into account.

Budget

Regardless of the type of municipality, the presence of a budget is necessarily attributed to the hallmark of a municipality.

The local budget is formed from several sources:

own funds of the region;
funds transferred by higher government bodies;
loans.

Own funds are formed due to the receipt of local taxes in the budget (for property, land, state duties for the provision of administrative services, a single tax on imputed income and others).

Funds that are transferred from higher authorities are subsidies and subsidies for local reforms, subventions or budget loans.

The expenditure side of the budget consists of:

obligatory payments;
discretionary expenses.

The first category includes financing of the population and self-government bodies, including those programs that are imputed by state bodies.

The second category includes expenses that will allow all municipal enterprises to be maintained, including transport infrastructure, housing and others.

Infrastructure

A sign of the municipality is also an infrastructure consisting of 3 components:

Production	Social	Market infrastructure
comprises:
industry	healthcare	cans
transport	education	markets
connection	Housing and communal services	trade fairs
the culture	auctions
the science	labor market

Infrastructure as a sign of a municipality is affected by the degree of its development. For example, if we consider the production sphere, then the municipality is called upon only to create the necessary conditions for the functioning of production activities.

The main functions of social infrastructure include:

training;
youth education;
health care, as part of a program to increase the length of the working period;
ensuring decent recreation for the population.

Through market infrastructure, local government is required to:

facilitate the conditions for entrepreneurial activity;
organize market relations within a territorial unit;
facilitate economic control;
train personnel to ensure the functioning of the market infrastructure.

Most importantly, local authorities should be able to establish a system of interconnection between all infrastructures.

Municipal property

The signs of the municipality include the ownership of the territorial unit. This property is under the full control and authority of the local authorities. The property may include:

extrabudgetary funds;
educational and educational institutions;
cultural objects, parks, squares, monuments;
service infrastructure enterprises;
unitary enterprises;
residential and non-residential fund;
healthcare facilities, hospitals and clinics, nursing homes and maternity hospitals;
land.

The main characteristic feature of municipal property is that it should be of key importance for the region.

Local authorities have the right to independently determine the order of disposal and management of existing property. Local governments are required to maintain a list-register of municipal property.

Land

The main feature of the territory of the municipality is land. It is also the main source of replenishment of any local budget. Municipal property lands can be assigned to this category in the following cases:

if at the level of federal legislation they are recognized as such;
lands transferred free of charge from federal property;
the right to it appeared as a result of the territorial delimitation of state property;
the right to purchase was carried out in compliance with civil law.

At the state level, those land plots that are not within the boundaries of a particular territorial unit can also be transferred to municipal ownership. In turn, local authorities have the right to transfer land:

for rent;
into property;
for indefinite use.

Users and owners can be legal entities and individuals.

Charter

The main features of the municipality also include the presence of its charter. This document has a special status among all local documents. In fact, it is a territorial constitution. At the level of legislation, a rather wide circle of persons has been identified who are entitled to consider and amend the draft charter. These include:

deputies of the representative body;
head of Moscow region;
head of Administration;
representatives of public authorities;
initiative groups consisting of local residents.

There is one clarification regarding the initiative groups, they should have no more than 3% of the local population, at the age that allows voting in local elections.

Prior to the adoption of the charter or amendments to it, the draft document must be made public 30 days before the date of its approval. A different procedure for holding public hearings cannot be provided for by local regulations. After the hearing, its results should be published in local media. Even if no comments have been received regarding the text of the document, it is also necessary to inform the public about this.

If in the settlement there are no more than 100 inhabitants, then the charter can be adopted at a gathering of all citizens.

Further, after all the hearings have passed, and the document has been approved by the local authorities, it is subject to mandatory state registration in the governing bodies of the Ministry of Justice. Failure to comply with the entire procedure entails a refusal to register the charter.

Some practical information - precisely for this reason, in 2013 the registration authorities made 14 decisions to refuse registration, and in 2014 - 3.

Population and authorities

The municipality (the concept, features and types of which we are considering) includes the local population and authorities. The main function of the governing bodies is regulatory, both in the sphere of economics and in political and social issues. All officials are divided into two categories:

Replaced, that is, those who received the post as a result of the election (deputies, heads of administrations, members of the representative body).
Officers who are hired on the basis of an employment contract.

Without a population, no municipality can exist. After all, it is the local residents who are the source of income, form the bodies of self-government and exercise control over the activities of the authorities.

The population of the municipality is directly involved in management through: