The aim of this article is to identify the role of fees and user charges in the budgets of large cities (cities with county status) and policies of these entities in this regard. To achieve this goal, the article reviews the research on the importance of fees and user charges in local government finance, and analyses the role of fees and user charges in large cities finances in Poland from 2006 to 2012. The study confirms the global trend observable in different countries, i.e. the increasing importance of revenues from fees and user charges to local government budgets. Secondly, the relative size of revenues from fees and user charges in large cities in Poland are evening out. Thirdly, there are two key areas in terms of service charges: public transport and housing management.
Parishes possess a wide selection of instruments for stimulating the development of entrepreneurship, unfortunately the instruments are rarely used as part of a complex, well thought-out strategy that brings about multi-level results. The instruments for entrepreneurship stimulation belong to two major categories: financial and non-financial. One of the primary reasons for investors to select a particular parish can be the existence of a planned and long-term fiscal policy, connected to a stable system of tax preferences in taxes and local fees, and an active strategy for parish investment expenditures. Creating positive conditions for the emergence of new enterprises is the best source of social-economical activation of the local population.
The ability to achieve the assumed waste recycling targets depends on the efficiency of waste management systems. Poland, as a member of the EU, has committed to achieving the recycling levels gradually i.e. at the level of 55% in 2025, 60% in 2030 and 65% in 2035 but whether it will meet the targets depends, among other things, on the efficiency of the waste collection system. The aim of the study is to check the cost efficiency of selective waste collection in the group of Polish voivodeship cities in the years 2020–2023. The study used a set of indicators for the assessment, including those proposed by the authors, calculated on the basis of reports on the implementation of city budgets and data from the Central Statistical Office. The analysis shows that cost efficiency is very diverse in the cities under scrutiny, and local governments are looking for the optimisation of municipal waste management systems, i.e. the best ratio of revenues from fees to costs. Based on the obtained results, it can be assumed that achieving the assumed waste recycling levels will be a significant challenge – or even an impossible task – for all voivodeship cities in Poland, which can constitute a source of actions to improve this state of affairs for local government authorities in Poland.
