Local Finance Benchmarking programme was piloted first in three cities of Spain in 2013: Galdakao (Basque Country), Santanded and Valladolid. Following this initial stage of the LFB project, EUDEL, the Basque local government association implemented the second project: adaption of the standard LFB Toolkit and piloting it in five cities of the Bizkaia region in 2014-2015.

Local Finance Benchmarking in the Basque Country, 2014-2015

The standard toolkit was simplified producing a Basque version of the toolkit with 80 items, focusing on five areas: principles of local finances, taxes and fees, financing capital budget, budget planning, budget implementation and supervision. The LFB toolkit survey was implemented in five municipalities of the Bizkaia region: Basauri, Bilbao, Ermua, Galdakao and Getxo, The adaptation and the piloting was coordinated by a management team comprising of the experts and the representatives of the beneficiary municipalities. The participating cities received a specific report with their own scores and a summary report was delivered with the average scores.

Local Finance Benchmarking piloting in 2013

The first analysis at the piloting stage took place in three cities with different characteristics: Galdakao - municipality located in the metropolitan area of Bilbao with nearly of 30,000 inhabitants, Santander - the maritime capital city of Cantabria and has 177,123 inhabitants, and Valladolid - the regional capital of Castile and Leon, an inner city with 309,714 inhabitants. One important conclusion after performing the LFB is that the recommendations arising from the report are to be agreed with each municipality, thus establishing tangible and achievable goals for improvements. A formal presentation of the results of the LFB to the municipal officials and the Mayor will ensure the commitment for the implementation of LFB recommendations. 

contacts Basque Country, 2014-2015

Mr Ibon Uribe ELORRIETA
Mayor of Galdakao
+34 680 952 994
iuribe@galdakao.net ; gontzal@galdakao.net

Mr Roberto CANON GROSTIZA
Budget Director, Municipality of Galdakao
+34 679 416 054
Roberto.canon@galdakao.net

Contacts - LFB piloting in 2013

Ms Juana LOPEZ PAGAN
Director of International Relationships, FEMP
+34 3643700
internacional@femp.es

Mr Íñigo Joaquín DE LA SERNA HERNAIZ
Mayor of Santander, FEMP President

Mr Juan Manuel GUIMERANS RUBIO
Director de Área de la Concejalía de Cultura, Comercio y Turismo del Ayuntamiento de Valladolid
+34 646 609 933
jmguimerans@ava.es

Ms Ana María GONZALEZ PESCADOR
Concejal de Hacienda y Personal del Ayuntamiento, Municipality of Santander
+34 94 22 00 776
agonzalez@ayto-santander.es

Mr Rafael DE LA IGLESIA BARBOLLA
Interventor adjunto, Municipality of Santander
+34 94 22 00 739
riglesia@ayto-santander.es

Mr Rafael SALGADO GIMENO
Interventor del Ayuntamiento de Valladolid
+34 652 91 35 98
rsalgado@ava.es

Mr Juan BAZA ROMAN
Ayuntamiento de Valladolid
+34 678 773 394 ; +34 983 426 139
jbaza@ava.es

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