Вызовы и перспективы укрупнения муниципальных образований на примере Московской области

Вопросы государственного и муниципального управления. 2023. № 1. С. 39–65.

Babeykin R.

The article is devoted to the study of challenges and prospects of the reform
of territorial organization of local self-government as the problem, which has become
relevant in the context of the upcoming new law on local self-government regulation.
Recently, some experts have been expressing concerns about the fi nal transition
to a homogenous system of local self-government in Russia, which will be expressed
in the abolition of urban and rural settlements. Th e declared goals of the reform, among
which there are an increase of budgetary independence and reduction in the cost of local
administration maintenance, are criticized, but at the same time there is still a lack of thematical
practice-oriented research. Th erefore, the study examines actual results of transformation
of territorial organization of local self-government in the Moscow region as an
example of a region, where all municipalities were granted the status of urban districts
before the end of 2019. Th e study is based on a theoretical framework, which is centered
around public choice and economies of scale theories. A hypothesis is drawn that the
spread of urban and municipal districts may lead to a decrease in the territorial accessibility
of local self-government followed by no reduction in the cost of its maintenance. Th e
pre- and post-reform values of indicators, characterizing territorial accessibility of local
self-governments and its services and the volume of expenses connected to local self-government
maintenance are compared. Conclusions are drawn about the negative impact
of the reform: the availability of local authorities and local services for citizens is declining,
while there are no visible budgetary savings due to staff cuts.

Keywords: местное самоуправление, local self-government, городской округ, municipal district, territorial accessibility, территориальная доступность, муниципальный округ, municipal amalgamation, cit y district, укрупнение муниципальных образований