TOOLS FOR RATIONAL USE OF RESOURCES AND ASSETS OF TERRITORIAL COMMUNITIES AS A COMPONENT OF STATE POLICY FOR THEIR DEVELOPMENT

Abstract

Introduction. In the context of decentralization and growing responsibility of local self-government bodies for local development outcomes, the rational use of the resource potential and assets of territorial communities becomes decisive for both fiscal capacity and the quality of public services [1; 3; 4]. Wartime risks, budget constraints and recovery needs increase requirements for transparency, accounting, asset management and investment-oriented use of communal resources.

Purpose. To substantiate the content and system of tools for rational use of resources and assets of territorial communities within the framework of the state policy for their development and to formulate practical recommendations to enhance governance performance.

Materials and methods. A system approach, institutional analysis, classification and generalization methods, and comparative legal analysis were applied. The empirical base includes Ukrainian legislation regulating local self-government, budgetary and property relations [1; 2; 6–13], Ukrainian academic publications on communal property management, digitalization and inter-municipal cooperation [15–25], and applied methodological guidance on organizing community property management [14].

Results. Tools for rational use of community resources and assets are systematized within four interrelated contours: institutional-organizational, fiscal-budgetary, legal (property) and digital-transparency. An integrated asset-management cycle model is proposed, combining inventory/registration, strategic goal-setting, project-budget mechanisms, commercialization/partnership tools and performance control. The research novelty is the linkage of asset-management tools to the stages of forming and implementing state policy aimed at stimulating the development of territorial communities, and the specification of “rationality” criteria (public value, fiscal return, life-cycle approach, transparency, renewability of the resource base) [3; 4; 16; 18; 19].

Discussion. Further research should focus on quantitative evaluation methods for community asset portfolios and the institutionalization of national data standards for communal asset registers to support state monitoring and incentives.