What do munici­pa­li­ties do?

Parlia­ment stipu­la­tes the laws, deci­des on the state budget, and over­sees the Govern­ment’s work. Execu­tive power lies with the Govern­ment and in matters regar­ding foreign policy to some extent with the Presi­dent of the Republic. Inde­pen­dent courts repre­sent the judiciary.

All of Finland’s 21 well­being services coun­ties (hyvin­voin­tia­lue) and 308 munici­pa­li­ties are under regio­nal cont­rol. Each enjoys auto­nomy. 108 munici­pa­li­ties call them­sel­ves cities (kaupunki), 200 munici­pa­li­ties (kunta).

The Finnish cons­ti­tu­tion guaran­tees both auto­nomy and the right to collect taxes to the munici­pa­li­ties. The highest deci­sion-makers in the munici­pa­li­ties are the munici­pal councils. Members of these are elec­ted in local elec­tions every fourth year. The next munici­pal elec­tions will be held on 13 April 2025.

The Finnish cons­ti­tu­tion guaran­tees both auto­nomy and the right to collect taxes to the municipalities.

The munici­pal council is in charge of the local govern­ment economy and func­tion. It also appoints elec­ted officials of the munici­pal execu­tive and the local autho­rity committees.

Seve­ral services, like educa­tion, early child­hood educa­tion and care, buil­ding cont­rol services, envi­ron­men­tal services, and taking care of infra­struc­ture, are run by the munici­pa­li­ties. From the begin­ning of 2025, they orga­nise the emplo­y­ment services, too.

Some munici­pa­li­ties have a mayor. He or she is an elec­ted official, a member of the munici­pal council, and holds power for the same term as the council. Anot­her, much more common way is to have a chief execu­tive, who is a civil servant. Both are working as the heads of the munici­pal admi­ni­stra­tion, financial mana­ge­ment, and other local activities.

In recent years, there have been some major chan­ges in the Finnish local govern­ment system. But one thing stays the same: your vote matters. Munici­pal councils have a lot to say on many impor­tant issues affec­ting our daily lives.

New regio­nal counties

All of these well­being services coun­ties are self-gover­ning. Their highest deci­sion-making power lies with the county councils, whose council­lors are elec­ted in county elec­tions. They decide, among other things, on the regio­nal stra­tegy, budget, and rules of administration.

The county council elects the execu­tive board, other admi­ni­stra­tive bodies, and the county CEO. The next county elec­tions will be held on 13 April 2025, at the same time as munici­pal elections.

Jenni Airak­si­nen, CEO of the Foun­da­tion for Munici­pal Deve­lop­ment, says that the deci­sion-making systems in the coun­ties are still unfi­nis­hed. Their struc­tu­res follow munici­pal ones, though they are different.

Also, accor­ding to Jenni Airak­si­nen, the real self-gover­ning of the well­being services coun­ties is somew­hat illusory. The state very much guides their activities.

– The coun­ties do not have the ability to grow their income, and actually have no possi­bi­lity to grow their expen­ses either. One may ask where is the autonomy.