Guide to Analysing the Local Budget

The guide argues that residents fund the local budget through taxes and fees, so they should take an interest in how officials spend it. Without scrutiny, money can be spent on unnecessary things or even stolen. Civic involvement can range from analysis and discussion of the budget to participatory budgeting, where citizens vote on projects funded from the budget.

Analysis of budget data is the starting point for every form of involvement. The guide explains what a local budget is, where the data can be obtained, which indicators to analyse and how to interpret them, and at which stages citizens and civil society can make proposals. The recommended indicators are illustrated with real budget data from Soroca municipality. It is intended for civically active citizens, local participatory budgeting coalitions and civil society organisations working on budgets. The project was implemented within the MATRA programme.