Municipal finances from 1900

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Periods Revenues and expenditure municipalities Revenues Total revenues (million euros) Revenues and expenditure municipalities Revenues Revenues current accounts Total revenues current accounts (million euros) Revenues and expenditure municipalities Revenues Revenues current accounts Levies (million euros) Revenues and expenditure municipalities Revenues Revenues current accounts Other revenues (million euros) Revenues and expenditure municipalities Revenues Revenues capital accounts (million euros) Revenues and expenditure municipalities Expenditure Total expenditure (million euros) Revenues and expenditure municipalities Expenditure Expenditure current accounts (million euros) Revenues and expenditure municipalities Expenditure Expenditure capital accounts (million euros) Revenues and expenditure municipalities Balance of revenues and expenditure (million euros) Debt at year-end Total debt at year-end (million euros) Debt at year-end Long-term debt (million euros) Debt at year-end Short-term debt (million euros)
1900 158 43 12 31 115 161 52 108 -3 160 118 42
1910 234 85 18 67 149 211 94 117 23 260 191 68
1920 405 187 104 83 218 390 211 179 15 605 446 158
1930 435 297 116 181 138 477 369 108 -42 1,503 1,072 432
1940 580 472 79 393 108 575 492 83 5 1,789 1,252 537
1950 1,114 690 139 551 424 1,428 863 565 -313 2,935 1,904 1,031
1960 2,596 2,085 98 1,987 511 2,894 1,958 935 -298 9,004 6,479 2,525
1970 7,862 6,577 253 6,324 1,284 8,974 6,560 2,414 -1,113 26,805 18,038 8,767
1980 29,709 26,210 1,293 24,917 3,499 31,860 26,233 5,627 -2,151 57,881 40,069 17,812
1990 39,205 33,486 2,400 31,086 5,719 38,946 32,702 6,244 259 74,626 54,169 20,457
2000 41,074 35,345 5,508 29,837 5,729 40,866 32,896 7,970 208 38,700 28,600 10,100
2010 52,090 43,907 7,869 36,038 8,183 57,003 46,382 10,621 -4,913 48,521 33,161 15,360
2020 71,295 63,977 10,687 53,290 7,318 68,068 60,073 7,995 3,227 52,457 39,692 12,765
2021 69,035 61,693 11,375 50,318 7,343 68,682 60,475 8,207 353 53,231 39,253 13,978
2022* 75,447 67,736 11,847 55,889 7,711 72,916 64,119 8,798 2,531 53,079 39,174 13,905
Source: CBS.
Explanation of symbols

Table explanation


This table contains figures on revenues, expenditures and debts of municipalities as of the year 1900, in millions of euros. The figures have been collected from previously published tables on municipal finances and have been based on annual realisation figures. The data presented were taken from the annual accounts and the balance sheets of the respective municipalities, and match as closely as possible the definitions and classifications used by the municipalities themselves in their administration.

Important events:
1986 - A different method of financing the homes for the elderly resulted in a visible spike of 2 billion euros in income on the capital account.
1995 - In this year, municipalities received approximately 15.5 billion euros as a lump-sum payment from Central Government to buy off loans provided under the Housing Act. Through these lump sum payments the loans are repaid, causing the loans to decrease by an equal amount in 1995.
2008 - As of January 2008 deferred payments received from European and Dutch governments for a specific purpose (such as the construction of new infrastructure) to cover expenses in previous years, are recorded in the balance sheet differently. From this date onwards they are recorded under deferred liabilities. Previously the amounts were recorded under the provisions. The change in recording has led to a break in the time series concerning the balance between 2007 and 2008.
2009 - The sale of shares in Nuon and Essent resulted in a visible spike of 5.2 billion euros. Since the received book profit and super dividends are considered part of the current account, the increase is visible there.
2015 - Due to the transfer of tasks in the area of social support from General Government to municipalities, the revenues and expenses have increased by approximately 7 billion euros. The figures in this table are provisional at the time of first publication. Upon the second publication one year later, the figures will become definitive.
2020 - The sale of shares in Eneco resulted in additional revenues (book profit) of 4.1 billion euros.

Status of the figures:
The figures for 1900-2021 are definite, the figures for 2022 are provisional.

Changes as of 22 March 2024:
The provisional figures for 2022 have been added.
The figures for 2021 have been adjusted from provisional to definite.
For the year 2020, a 6 million euro correction was not included in the figure for short-term debt and, as a result, also not for total debt. In this version, this correction is included.

When will new figures be published?
The new figures from the municipal accounts are published no later than 15 months after the reporting period.
The figures can be adjusted on the basis of the availability of new or updated source material. In general, the adjustments are small. The adjustments are made the moment a new annual figure is added to the series.

Description topics

Revenues and expenditure municipalities
Revenues
Revenues related to the relevant period.

The revenues are recorded excluding internal settlements.
Total revenues
Revenues related to the relevant period.

The revenues are recorded excluding internal settlements.
Revenues current accounts
Total revenues current accounts.
The part of the revenues that is recorded on the current account.

On the current account, revenues are recorded onto the working balance of the current year. This includes interest income, sales of goods and services and received transfers. Super dividends and book profits are also included in the current account.

The bulk of the muncipal income consists of the general payments General Municipal Fund, other central government target payments and the muncipal levies received.
Total revenues current accounts
The part of the revenues that is recorded on the current account.

On the current account, revenues are recorded onto the working balance of the current year. This includes interest income, sales of goods and services and received transfers. Super dividends and book profits are also included in the current account.

The bulk of the muncipal income consists of the general payments General Municipal Fund, other central government target payments and the muncipal levies received.
Levies
Payments imposed by muncipalities. Levies include taxes and fees.

Tax:
Mandatory and unrequited payments imposed by government, without a direct counterpart. The revenue is part of the general resources of governments.

The taxes of municipalities mainly consist of the property tax and sewerage charges.

Fee:
Payment levied by government according to general principles for a concrete service it provides. The revenue has to be spent on a prescribed purpose.

The fees of municipalities mainly consist of waste collection charge and parking fees.
Other revenues
Revenues from rentals, leases, sales and received transfers from other governments or central government. Interest income and dividend received also belong to this category.

The majority of the other revenues consists of the general payments General Municipal Fund.
Revenues capital accounts
The part of the revenues which is registered in the capital accounts.

The revenues from the capital account includes the revenues from the sale of (in) tangible fixed assets, the consumption of fixed capital (depreciation) and the revenues from land sales. In addition, the investment grants received from third parties are also included in the revenues from the capital account.
Expenditure
Expenditure related to the relevant period.

The expenditures are recorded including the consumption of fixed capital and excluding internal settlements.
Total expenditure
Expenditure related to the relevant period.

The expenditures are recorded including the consumption of fixed capital and excluding internal settlements.
Expenditure current accounts
The part of the expenditure that is recorded on the current accounts.

On the current account, expenditures are recorded related to the working balance of the current year. This includes compensation of employees, interest charges, purchase of non-durable goods and services (including energy costs and costs of hiring staff) and paid current transfers, as well as consumption of fixed capital.

Expenditure capital accounts
The part of the expenditure that is registered in the capital accounts.

The expenditure from the capital accounts includes capital formation in fixed assets and changes in inventories including valuables, paid investment grants to governments and third parties and purchases of land.
Balance of revenues and expenditure
Balance of revenue and expenditure. A positive figure indicates a surplus, a negative figure indicates a deficit.
Debt at year-end
The balance position of the debt of the muncipalities at the end of the year.
Total debt at year-end
The balance position of the debt of the municipalities at the end of the year.
Long-term debt
Long-term debts are all credits, which do not have the characteristics of deposits and which do not mature within one year.

The long-term debt or liabilities include the fixed liabilities (bond loans, private loans, funds invested by third parties and guarantee deposits).
The liability is valued at nominal value.
Short-term debt
Short-term debts or liabilities are all credits, which do not have the characteristics of deposits and which mature by contract within one year.

The short-term liabilities includes the current liabilities and the deferred liabilities.
The liability is valued at nominal value.

As of 2008, received transfers in advance from European and Dutch governments with a specific spending purpose (i.e. the construction of new infrastructure) to cover expenses in future years are included in the balance sheet differently. From this year, these received transfers are included under deferred liabilities. The received transfers were previously booked under the provisions.