A pilot project will be undertaken in a number of different industrial sub-sectors, and the results disseminated to other SMEs. Energy efficiency standards have been introduced for most household appliances and for buildings. Power sector modernisations have been supported from a fund created through a levy on electricity and heat sales. A total of almost 2,700 municipalities, including 182 cities, form the lowest tier of local government in Romania. Above the municipalities are the 42 counties, responsible for co-ordinating the actions of the municipalities.
Local authorities are fairly autonomous with regard to budgets.
Local taxes and a share of income tax form the bulk of the budgets of municipalities. Housing ownership Even under the centrally-planned regime, private ownership of housing was relatively common. Since economic transition has been under way, housing is probably the sector that has seen the greatest degree of privatisation. Of about 7.5 million dwellings, only 347,000 remained in public ownership by the mid-1990s. The average size of apartments is large by the standards of the region, and overcrowding is not normally a problem.