The Role of a Village Administration (Sołectwo) Fund in the Exercising of a Commune’s Tasks by a Sołectwo –Formal and Legal Aspects
Keywords:
Sołectwo (the smallest village administrative unit in Poland, a subdivision of a commune), Sołectwo fund, commune, a supporting unit of a commune, participatory budgeting, single-member electoral districtsAbstract
A Village Administration (Sołectwo) fund is a new legal instrument which facilitates financing undertakings in rural areas. Although it has been in operation for as few as 5 years now, this form of participatory budgeting is still gaining popularity in the areas. According to the statistics publicised by the Ministry of Administration and Digitization, 64% of communes were planning to ring-fence Sołectwo funds within their budgets in 2015. Therefore, it is relevant to review current legal solutions regulating Sołectwo funds and define how they might affect the activity of a local council. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the legal conditions within which Sołectwos, as supporting commune units, spend their fund resources. A selected number of local council and public finance laws have been considered, as well as the regulations concerning single-member electoral districts across rural communes.
