GEOSPATIAL ASPECTS OF FINANCIAL CAPACITY OF TERRITORIAL COMMUNITIES OF TERNOPIL REGION
Authors: Rudakevych Ivan 
Published: August 2023

In the article geospatial aspects of the financial capacity of territorial communities of Ternopil region are described. The need to conduct such a study has been updated, since not all communities in the region were financially capable after their creation. Scientific studies on the subject of financial capacity of territorial communities are characterized. Criteria for determining the financial capacity of territorial communities were defined according to the methodology of the ministry of community and territory development of Ukraine. For this research were used following indicators: revenues of the general fund of the local budget, the amount of subsidies and interbudgetary transfers. The largest local budget revenues in 2021 were mainly received by larger urban communities (Ternopil, Chortkiv, Zbarazh) and Baikivtsi and Velyka Berezovytsia rural territorial communities. Their income amounted to more than 100 million hryvnias. Ternopil and Baikivtsi territorial communities received the largest local budget revenues per inhabitant. A group of suburban communities around the city of Ternopil stands out, in which budget revenues are higher than the average for the region. The lowest level of revenues of the general fund of local budgets in 2021 was received by Zolotyi Potik, Koropets and Mel’nytsia-Podil’ska territorial communities, which are located in the peripheral zone in the south of the region. The reason for the low incomes of these communities is their distance from economic centers, weak development of transport infrastructure and local business. Ternopil City Territorial Community has the highest local budget expenditures - 2.8 billion hryvnias. Budget expenditures are also quite high in the urban communities of Borshchiv, Buchach, Zbarazh, Kremenets, Terebovlia, and Chortkiv. The main reason for such high expenses is the presence of many social infrastructure institutions. In turn, the lowest expenditures of local budgets are mainly rural communities with a small amount of social facilities: Ivanivka, Kozliv, Ivane-Puste, Koropets, Kupchyntsi. The highest budget expenditures per inhabitant in 2021 were in Baikivtsi, Pochaiv and Ternopil territorial communities. In all communities of the Ternopil region in 2021, the expenditures of local budgets exceeded their revenues, that is, a budget deficit arose. The biggest difference between income and expenses (budget deficit) was observed in Ternopil, Buchach, Kremenets, and Zbarazh urban territorial communities. The smallest budget deficit was in Velyki Birky and Trybukhivtsi rural communities. In terms of percentage, the difference between income and expenses was almost 12% in Baikovtsi communities, 20-30% in Velyki Birky, Velyka Berezovytsia, Trybukhivtsi, Chortkiv, Velyki Hai and Ternopil territorial communities. However, only 26-28% of expenses can be financed from the revenues of the general fund of the budget in Zolotyi Potik, Koropets, Mel’nytsia-Podil’ska territorial communities. These communities are underdeveloped with low own budget revenues, which is indicated their low financial capacity. To cover the deficit of the local budget, territorial communities of the Ternopil region most often use transfers from the budgets of higher levels. A high amount of transfers per inhabitant indicates the low financial capacity of the community, especially in comparison with the income of its budget. The highest amount of transfers to the local budget in 2021 was received by the Ternopil City Territorial Community - 1.437 billion hryvnias. A large amount of involved transfers is also in the budgets of Borschiv, Buchach, Chortkiv, Kremenets, Terebovlia, Zalishchyky, Zbarazh and Shumsk communities. The reason for this is the presence of many objects of social infrastructure and communal services in these urban communities. The communities of Ivanivka, Kozliv, Bil’che-Zolote, and Velyki Birky required the smallest amount of transfers - less than 20 million hryvnias in 2021. At the same time, the local budgets of the Ternopil, Baikivtsi, Velyki Birky communities in 2021 paid a reverse subsidy to the state budget thanks to high revenues. In 21 territorial communities of the Ternopil region in 2021, budget revenues exceeded the amount of transfers. Baikivtsi, Velyki Birky, Velyka Berezovytsia, and Chortkiv communities had the best indicators. In 24 communities of the region, the amount of inter-budgetary transfers exceeds the incomes of local budgets. The worst situation is in Zolotyi Potik, Koropets, Lopushne and Melnytsia-Podilska communities, where the amount of transfers is 2,5-3 times higher than budget revenues. Zolotyi Potik, Koropets, Lopushne, Mel’nytsia-Podil’ska, Vyshnivets, Pochaiv territorial communities are unable to provide the majority of budget expenditures at the expense of their own revenues, since their budget revenues depend on 50-75% of transfers from the state and regional budgets. In the article presented maps, where it is possible to trace groups of communities according to the level of their incomes, expenditures and inter-budgetary transfers. In the Ternopil region, several groups of territorial communities can be distinguished according to the peculiarities of their financial capacity: financially capable communities (Baikivtsi, Velyki Birky, Velyka Berezovytsia, Trybukhivtsi), conditionally financially capable communities (Bila, Velyki Hai, Ivanivka, Pidhorodne, Pidhaitsi, Ternopil, Chortkiv), communities with low level of financial capacity (Buchach, Zalishchyky, Kopychyntsi, Monastyryska, Pochaiv, Shumsk urban communities), financially incapable communities (Vyshnivets, Zolotyi Potik, Koropets, Lopushne, Mel’nytsia-Podil’ska). The results of this research can be used to improving administrative division of the Ternopil region, for analytical studies of the budget policy of communities, strategic plans, and the development of territories.
Key words: budget, financial capacity, revenue, Ternopil region, territorial community, transfer.