The municipalities (kunta in Finnish, kommun in Swedish) represent the local level of administration in Finland and act as the fundamental administrative units of the country. Municipalities have the right to levy a flat percentual tax, which is between 16 and 20 percent, and they provide two thirds of public services. Municipalities control many community services, such as schools, health care and the water supply, and local streets. They do not maintain highways, set laws or keep police forces — these tasks are the responsibility of the central government.
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Government and taxation
Municipalities have council-manager government, i.e. they are governed by an elected council (kunnanvaltuusto, kommunfullmäktige), which is legally autonomous and answers only to the voters. The size of the council is proportional to the population, the extremes being 9 in Sottunga and 85 in Helsinki. Municipal managers (kaupunginjohtaja, stadsdirektör for cities, kunnanjohtaja, kommunsdirektör for other municipalities) are civil servants named by the council. There are no mayors in the English sense in Finland, although the city manager of Helsinki is called ylipormestari/överborgmästare "Lord Mayor" for historical reasons. The government has recently made a law proposal that would allow municipal councils to elect mayors. The municipal tax is a flat income tax that is levied on lower income levels than state taxes, which in contrast are progressive taxes. Municipalities also receive funding directly from the state (valtionapu). Municipalities levy a property tax on property. Corporate tax called yhteisövero, "community tax", is also a source of income. Although municipalities do not have police or legistlative powers, local ordinances concerning traffic can be set, and municipal parking inspectors can give parking tickets.
Statistics
As of 2007, there are 416 municipalities in Finland, of which 113 are cities. 19 municipalities are unilingually Swedish (16 in the autonomous Åland and three in Ostrobothnia). 43 municipalities are bilingual: 22 with Swedish as the majority language (all but five in Ostrobothnia and Åboland) and 21 with Finnish as the majority language (all but five in the historical province of Uusimaa). Although there are exceptions, the line between a city and a small town or rural municipality can be drawn at Hamina with 21720 inhabitants. In the population ranking, above Hamina there are only cities (and their surrounding areas). The areas of the municipalities vary, as the population is the primary criterion for forming a municipality. The largest are found in Lapland, of which the largest is Inari at 17321 km² (130 km square). The smallest municipalities are very small towns. Kaskinen is an independent town with the area of only 10 km² (3 km square). Kauniainen, which was originally a corporation in Espoo, is only 6 km² (2,5 km square).
History
Municipalities were originally parishes. The old word for a municipality is pitäjä, 'keeper', because when the system was instituted, one municipality kept one minister. Furthermore, there was a system of tax areas, which was not necessarily convergent. Furthermore, cities were chartered separately. Until 1977 municipalities were divided into cities (kaupunki, stad), market towns (kauppala, köping) and rural municipalities (maalaiskunta, landskommun). The market towns were abolished and renamed as cities. The rest of the municipalities were classified as 'other municipalities'. From 1995 onwards only 'municipality' is recognized by law and any municipality is allowed to call itself a city if it so wishes. Each municipality has a distinct coat of arms. It is posted to the borders and shown in official documents advertising the municipality. Also, municipalities may have a logo distinct from a coat of arms.
Capital region
Distinctively, the capital area, or Greater Helsinki, has no special arrangements. The area consists of four entirely independent cities that form a continuous conurbation. Greater Helsinki has grown in population and area relatively quickly: the nearby municipalities, considered rural only 50 years ago, have become suburbs of Helsinki, and the growth is projected to continue. In this environment, the current municipal borders appear artificial. A state-imposed merger of Helsinki and a part of Sipoo, a rural, 40% Swedish-speaking municipality adjacent to Greater Helsinki, was recently approved by the government, counter to the opinion of the Sipoo municipal council. This area will effectively become a new (and Finnish-speaking) suburb with multiple times the inhabitants there are in Sipoo.
Mergers and reform
There is currently a heated political debate in Finland about reforming the municipality system. Essentially, a large number of small municipalities is seen as detrimental to the provision of public services, having been originated from a time when horses and carriages were used from transport, and there have been suggestions of state-imposed mergers. A committee led by Minister for Regional and Municipal Affairs Hannes Manninen (since April 2007 the post is held by Mari Kiviniemi) has suggested creating a two-tier system of municipalities with different powers, while the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities (Kuntaliitto) favours a system where municipalities would be units of at least 20,000-30,000 inhabitants, cf. the current median at 4,700. The motion has been inspired by a similar reform in Denmark (see Municipalities of Denmark). Recently, a large number of voluntary mergers have been agreed on.[1] 14 mergers were completed in 2007 and one in 2008. In 2009, there will be even more, and many of these mergers consolidate more than two municipalities. Several cities merge with surrounding rural municipalities in Hämeenlinna, Loviisa, Salo, Kouvola, Seinäjoki, Naantali, Kauhava, Lohja, Ekenäs, Jyväskylä and Oulu in 2009. In total, there will be 30 mergers, involving 92 municipalities, that reduce the number of municipalities by 62. Four mergers are currently under consideration and may be effected in 2009.
Municipalities by regions
- Municipalities of Central Finland
- Municipalities of Finland Proper
- Municipalities of Kainuu
- Municipalities of Kymenlaakso
- Municipalities of Lapland
- Municipalities of North Karelia
- Municipalities of South Karelia
- Municipalities of Ostrobothnia
- Municipalities of Central Ostrobothnia
- Municipalities of Northern Ostrobothnia
- Municipalities of Southern Ostrobothnia
- Municipalities of Pirkanmaa
- Municipalities of Satakunta
- Municipalities of Northern Savonia
- Municipalities of Southern Savonia
- Municipalities of Tavastia Proper
- Municipalities of Päijänne Tavastia
- Municipalities of Uusimaa
- Municipalities of Eastern Uusimaa
- Municipalities of Åland
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See also
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