Financial Self-Sufficiency and the Position of Selected Types of Small Municipalities in the Region of South Bohemia in 2013 – 2016 (A Case Study)

In recent years, small municipalities have been gaining an increasing research interest, most notably in the areas of sociology and geography, yet the economic standpoint has not been sufficiently examined. Presented is an introductory case study on selected types of small municipalities of the South Bohemian Region (the Czech Republic) discussing their financial self-sufficiency and dependence on grants in a certain period under review (2013 – 2016). As regards the Czech Republic´s settlement structure, a specific category, considering small municipality as a unit with 500 – 9999 inhabitants, was established for the research purposes. The main part of the study encompasses a financial analysis of the corresponding municipalities, included in the category. Financial self-sufficiency and dependence on grants were assessed based on particular ratio indicators, i.e. own revenues and selected own revenues in relation to total revenues, and covering capital expenditures by investment transfers. It was found that the majority of municipalities have sufficient revenues to cover their expenditures. For the small municipalities concerned, however, this is at the expense of capital expenditure limitations, and in order to cover their investment projects, it is necessary to increase own revenues by grants.