The delegation of powers down to lower levels of self-government is accompanied by the decentralisation of public finance to the same levels. In December 1998 the parliament completed its work on the final versions of the temporary Law on Revenues of Territoorial Self-Government Entities for the Years 1999 and 2000 and the Law on Public Finance. Both Laws contribute to the introduction of a clear and transparent assignment of financial responsibilities to particular entities as well as ensure that the tasks delegated to territorial self-government entities are accompanied by the financial resources indispensable for their fulfilment.
 
      The Law on Revenues of Territorial Self-Government Entities is the major legislative act which determines the nature of self-government bodies' revenues. The revenues of gminas, poviats and voivodships consist of:

1. Own revenues, understood as property taxes, shared personal and corporate income taxes, and other statutory incomes (fees and taxes) which may be utilised for any purpose.
   
2. General subventions, although calculated for specific purposes such as education and roads, they may also be spent freely or carried over as surpluses from year to year.
   
3. Specific, state budget, grants, given for a specific purpose, are granted for a given fiscal yeear: unutilised funds have to be returned to state budget.

      Apart from these public sources of revenues, local entities are empowered to obtain revenues from private law sources (from the assets that they own). This mainly concerns gminas which are especiaally well-equipped with grround, housing and commercial properties.
 
 
FLOWCHART OF BUDGETARY FUNDS
 

 
Revenues of Territorial self-government entities

      According to the Law on Revenues of Territorial Self-Government Entities:

1. The system of gmina financing remains basically unchanged.
   
2. The major poviat and voivodship tasks include the maintenance of secondary (and tertiary) education, public safety, social wwelfare, transport, and health care. The general subvention for poviats and voivodships consists of funds (general subsidies) for secondary (and tertiary) education and roads, and in the cases specified by law, fiscal equalisation payments.

      The Law on Public Finance has been designed to increase the transparency of budgetary expenditures and enable a better monitoring of public debt.
 
      New regulations contained in Law on Public Finance and the Law on Revenues of Territorial Self-Government Entities fasciliate long-term planning and budgeting of investment projects.
 
      When adopting their budgets, the councils of local and regional self-governments are able to set aside funds for multi-year investment programmes. Each programme has to specify the name, objective and tasks of the programme; the organisational unit performing the programme or co-ordinating its implementation; the implementation period; the total investment expenses and the amount of expenditure in successive years of the programme.
 
      The local and regional self-governments are able to establish a list of expenditures that will remain legally binding at the end of the budget year. At the same time, they have to specify the final deadline for incurring each of the expenditures contained on the list.
 
      The Law on Revenues of Territorial Self-government Entities for the Years 1999 and 2000 also envisages that in the implementation of long-term development programmes, including investment prrogrammes, the voivodship self-government, represented by the Marshal, will be able to enter into a regional agreement with central government.