Abstract:

The local authorities are crossing one of the most critical moments. In the decade of the eighties, the New Public Management started criticizing the management of the local entities. In this period, Spain was in a process of political transition and the reforms of the New Public Management were not implemented. So, the process of modernization began a few years later than in other member states of the European Union. Even when they took place, the reforms were relatively superficial. The management continued having a high level of bureaucratic culture, in the same sense that happened in France. Definitively, the situation was the same and there wasn´t any commitment of the public managers to get better results.

The weak reform produced on the management of the local authorities showed the lacks of the public management in the Spanish State. The Spanish State was in a relatively comfortable situation, in a scene of an economic prosperity. But, in 2008, the economic crisis changed the situation. In that moment, it arose a policy of centralization and reduction of the number of public entities. In concrete, the situation has become complicated in the last five years. Even more, the local entities are forced to calculate the effective costs of the public services.

The University of the Basque Country is collaborating with the local authorities of Gipuzkoa in the framework of the Agreement of collaboration "Design of a cost system of Gipuzkoa's public municipal services", signed between the University of the Basque Country and the maximum institutional authorities of Gipuzkoa (july 2013).

This collaboration has two perspectives: the theoretical one and the practice. In the theoretical part a methodology of cost calculation of the public services has been created. Indeed, this methodology has been agreed by different agents and approved by the local authorities (Rule 309/2016). The practical part has been developed by students in practice of the Degree of Administration and Management. These students have the theoretical formation of the methodology and they implement it in the local entities under the supervision of university teachers.

Keywords:

Local entities, costs calculation, local authorities.