Local finance in the context of the new constitutional and legal status of local self-government

Abstract

The article examines the impact of the 2025 constitutional amendment on the unity of public authority and Federal Law No. 33-FZ of March 20, 2025, «On the General Principles of Organizing Local Self-Government within a Unified System of Public Authority» on the financial and budgetary sphere. The author uses the axiological characteristics of local finance, as well as the system of relations between state authorities and local self-government bodies in the budgetary sphere. In the context of limited resources, finances serve as an indicator of the importance and priority of the tasks carried out by public-law entities. The scale of individual tasks is what determines their obvious priority at the federal level. But at the local level, where authorities are closest to the public, the issues of setting priorities and allocating funds become much more pressing. In the financial and budgetary sphere, the operation of local governments alongside state authorities «within a unified framework» is governed by current budgetary legislation. This legislation includes certain general principles of the budgetary system, such as the unity of the Russian Federation’s budgetary system; the equality of budgetary rights among the Russian Federation’s constituent entities and municipalities; and the unity of the treasury. The author concludes that the constitutional amendment under consideration has created a legal framework for identifying and refining approaches to defining the fundamental values of local finance. It has also created a framework for establishing the specific features of financial and budgetary interaction between state and local authorities.