Management of Commune’s Financial Resources Under Conditions of Debt Bondage

Background. A commune local government is formed by inhabitants holding power through their representatives selected to the commune council and to positions of the executive body. Successful local growth is ensured by collaboration among all entities while fulfilling tasks specified by the state law and arising from inhabitants needs. In this paper an entity refers to inhabitants because this choice stems from the conviction that inhabitants co-participate in performing tasks and thus bear the consequences of management which, in the case of finance management, may lead to ill-considered expenditures and excessive indebtedness. Therefore, the research investigates inhabitant’s knowledge about financial economy, specifically the scale of the commune’s debt and related ramifications. Research aim. The aim of the studies conducted is to propose a model for finance man-agement in the commune local government, including management under conditions of debt bondage, where local potentials are used for acquiring larger financial resources from the commune local government’s members. Method. The research method used for the studies was a diagnostic survey. The survey rested on the method of questionnaire surveys and interview. The fragment of extensive empirical research carried out in all 118 communes across Warmia and Mazury Region was harnessed in the paper. Direct questionnaire surveys and interviews covered more than 5,000 persons, including councillors, officials, and principally inhabitants. 215 persons were randomly selected out of the whole base of questionnaires. Key finding. The research subject outlined reveals a primary research problem addressed in the studies. This refers to the knowledge among the commune local government’s members about the magnitude of debt in the commune, knowledge about individuals responsible for this indebtedness and, finally, implications of the debt for inhabitants.