On Saturday, the Law and Justice party organized a program debate on, among others, local government finances. It was held under the slogan “Thinking Poland – Alternative 2.0 – Local government of the future”.
— A local government official (…) must be a lord, in the old sense of the wordregardless of where it comes from. A Lord who can also talk to those who are stronger, from this position of dignity: we do not accept any money that is actually against our dignity and our interests – said PiS president Jarosław Kaczyński.
See also: Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship with an unusual program. Donation only for the chosen ones
He recalled that local government is part of the state apparatus, therefore the central government is obliged to support the local government in performing its duties, e.g. in the field of education or health care. But As he pointed out, the state often delegates tasks to local governments, but does not provide sufficient funds for their implementation. — This problem must be solved – he said.
Przemysław Czarnek: we must definitely increase the share of local governments in CIT
The candidate for future prime minister from PiS, Przemysław Czarnek, also took part in the debate. He assessed that the need to revise the power and role of local government under the constitutionin which 10 regulations apply to local government and not all of them are implemented. He pointed to Art. 167, in which local government units are provided with a share in public revenues in accordance with their tasks.
He emphasized that in local governments there is no money for education or health care and they have to pay for it from their own budgets, which often results in a lack of funds for investments in small local governments.
According to Czarnek, the poor financial situation causes local government officials to succumb to pressure from, for example, “windmill lobbyists” when looking for money.
See also: Local governments are demanding money for education. There are several dozen billion zlotys missing
He announced that PiS will present projects to reform the Act on the Finances of Local Government Units. — We must significantly increase the share of local governments in corporate income tax. We must definitely increase the share of local governments in the tax on the revenues of large-scale chains and foreign corporations – said Przemysław Czarnek.
The debate was also attended by, among others: Mateusz Morawiecki, Piotr Gliński, as well as other parliamentarians, local government officials and PiS supporters.
Local government finances. What does the hard data say?
According to data from the Ministry of Finance based on reports, the budgets of local government units (LGUs) in 2025 had a collective budget surplus of PLN 1.819 billion, with a planned deficit of PLN 30.679 billion.
An analysis by the National Institute of Local Government (NIST) showed that after the first year of application of the new act on local government revenues, there was an improvement in the financial situation compared to 2024. According to the Institute, only 2.5 percent all local governments, i.e. approximately 70 units out of over 2,800, recorded a real decline in income, with this group including half of voivodeship governments and eight poviats. In rural communes, real incomes increased on average by over 12 percent, and in voivodeship capitals – by a little over 4 percent.
