Dutch govt. fund distribution "inefficient and cluttered": Financial Council

The distribution of funds between the national government and municipalities should be urgently reassessed by the new cabinet, the Council for Financial Relations said, according to newspaper Trouw. The Council called the current system "inefficient", "cluttered" and "inconsistent".

Since the transfer of public tasks from the central government to municipalities, the municipalities annually receive 56 billion euros in tax money to perform these task, including healthcare and security. The idea was that transferring the tasks would make the system more efficient. But according to the Council, this is not the case.

The Council, an independent advisory board, wrote a letter to the Cabinet stating that the decentralization of tasks and its funding was never well thought out and still municipalities are given an ad hoc bag of money.

According to the Council, the system should instead be designed according to the principle of "he who pays, decides". The government should make a new subdivision of tasks that are the responsibility of the government and municipalities. If the government sets the standards the government must bear the costs. Tasks the municipalities are responsible for, should be funded primarily by municipal taxes.