Martin Liby Troein: It is not enough to throw money at the welfare problem

That the municipalities are facing major economic challenges in the next few years is no longer a novelty. According to the Swedish association of local authorities and regions (SALAR), the total budgethålet to 42 billion by 2022.

To a large extent, it is about demographics. In very small glesbygdskommuner means emigration to the tax base gröps out. So it is, for example, in the small Sorsele, with just 2.526 inhabitants, whose situation Torbjörn Petersson described in an article in dagens nyheter earlier in the week.

In many mid-sized and some larger municipalities does not shrink the population. But the proportion of older people is growing, while many new arrivals have difficulty entering the labour market. It creates pressures on both the expenditure and the revenue side.

the equation to be solved. Deficits to be removed, at the same time, citizens expect that local governments will deliver just as high of quality of welfare as in the past. Time higher.

On paper is a simple solution: the municipalities can raise the tax. According to the SKL would be an average increase of less than 2 percentage points, to fix the beef. But in the small municipalities most affected by migration – and that would have to raise taxes the most – it would strengthen an already vicious spiral.

in Addition, we have already high income taxes. Is raised, they weaken both the incentive to work and competitiveness.

continue to increase kommunbidragen. But as the economist Susanne Ackum pointed out when the centre for business and policy society held a seminar on the new government's economic policies on Wednesday, so weakened the municipalities ' incentives for efficiency improvements if the state is too generous. The productivity of welfare must increase, and it is required that the digital opportunities are made to be, she said.

the City has broken the record in getting people to go from the contribution to the work. And saved millions in the process.

Ackum pointed at Trelleborg as an example. Where has the social services, the automated processing of income support. Instead of browse through a lot of applications can the officials put the time in to help those who had to find a job.

since Then, the city has broken the record in getting people to go from the contribution to the work. And saved millions in the process.

new technology to streamline the welfare system will hit error sometimes. And in Sorsele and other minikommuner where the population base will be quite small, the state must take an even greater part of the bill.

But, on the whole, it is not enough to throw money at the problems. Municipalities need to make better use of the resources they have.