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.