The short route of the administrative-territorial reform has arrived at the station of the draft idea of reducing the number of municipalities, leading the process to the dilemma of the plum game: 10, 20 less - but how much?
What makes this equation with so many unknowns even more difficult is the fact that an expert report has not yet been published to argue these changes and define the criteria on which the fate of the municipalities that will be absorbed by the larger neighbors will be decided. Equally unclear is what will be considered a “larger” municipality: political weight or financial and administrative capacity?
On the other hand, there is a misunderstanding in the way the financial indicators of municipalities are interpreted. Like territorial size, budget size is often treated as an absolute value, as if a larger budget or a larger territory automatically meant a more successful municipality. In large municipalities, higher revenues are not necessarily an indicator of better performance if they are not transformed into quality services, investments and direct improvement of the well-being of citizens. Likewise, a high level of spending does not constitute value in itself if it is not reflected in concrete results for the community.
In the context of this nebula, the performance of municipalities in budgetary indicators and in the provision of basic local services shows that large municipalities face more difficulties than small and medium-sized municipalities. Therefore, size, which is being offered as a solution to local government challenges, actually turns out to be a factor that does not guarantee higher performance in itself and, in some cases, may be associated with greater managerial complexities and a reduced ability to effectively respond to citizens' service requests.
Budget and investments
The Municipal Performance Report for 2024 shows that smaller municipalities (up to 10,000 inhabitants) have the highest budget per capita, with around 46 thousand lekë, and realize 74% of it. In comparison, municipalities with 10,000–50,000 inhabitants have around 30 thousand lekë per capita and the highest budget realization (76%). Meanwhile, municipalities with 50,000–150,000 inhabitants have the lowest budget per capita (around 25 thousand lekë) and realize 71% of it. The Municipality of Tirana, despite having a relatively high budget per capita (around 42 thousand lekë), marks the lowest budget realization level, with only 62%.
In terms of per capita investments, small municipalities record the highest level with about 7 thousand lekë, or about 1 thousand lekë more than medium-sized municipalities and 1.7 thousand lekë more than large municipalities (excluding Tirana). However, in relation to the total budget, investments constitute only 15 percent of the budget of small municipalities, about 5 percent less than in municipalities of other categories. The latter, despite greater financial capacities, fail to exceed the national average threshold of 20% of the weight of investments to the total budget, indicating that the size of the municipality does not necessarily translate into a greater ability to direct resources towards investments. If large municipalities have more significant financial resources and capacities, why do they fail to translate this advantage into higher levels of investments for citizens? The limited differences in the weight of investments to the budget, together with the lower level of investments per capita in larger municipalities, suggest that the challenge is not only related to the size of the local unit, but to the management style, budget priorities and the ability to transform financial resources into concrete services and investments.
Preschool education
The provision of preschool education in nurseries and kindergartens is more problematic in large municipalities, compared to small and medium-sized municipalities. According to the data, small municipalities have the highest level of enrollment in nurseries, with 11%, compared to medium-sized municipalities (9%) and large municipalities (8%, excluding Tirana). Meanwhile, in public kindergartens, small municipalities have the highest enrollment rate, with 72%, compared to the Municipality of Tirana (40.5%). It should be noted that 17 municipalities do not offer public nurseries.
The data show that smaller municipalities exhibit higher registration rates, reaching in some cases levels above 90% (as in Tepelena, Selenice and Rrogozhina). Meanwhile, the lower registration rates in larger municipalities are partly related to the fact that part of the demand for this service is covered by the private sector.
Regarding the child-educator ratio in kindergartens, larger municipalities, such as Tirana and those with populations over 50.000, show the highest ratios, respectively 18.2 and 15.3 in public kindergartens, highlighting the significant lack of infrastructural and human resources in these municipalities.
The preschool education service raises an important issue for the analysis of the impact of municipality size on the performance of public services. Despite higher financial and administrative capacities, large municipalities show weaker results in one of the most important services, compared to small and medium-sized municipalities. This shows that increasing the size of a municipality does not in itself guarantee improved services; on the contrary, without sufficient financial, infrastructural and administrative capacities, it can bring greater pressure on public services and weaken the proximity of government to citizens.
Irrigation and drainage
In small municipalities, maintenance of irrigation canals reaches a rate of 38%, while in larger municipalities, which have over 50.000 inhabitants, the maintenance rate reaches 12%. These data are taken from the 2023 report, because the 2024 performance report has a methodological change in this area. Meanwhile, regarding the maintenance rate of drainage canals, medium-sized municipalities have a better performance than large municipalities, excluding Tirana. Tirana Municipality results in having the lowest percentage of agricultural lands with irrigation/drainage (21%), compared to other municipalities that range in 46%-47%.
This indirect relationship suggests that the management of irrigation and drainage infrastructure is related not only to the size of the municipality, but also to the ability to ensure continuous maintenance, resource planning and rapid response to the needs of the territory. In this area, smaller municipalities may have the advantage of greater proximity to agricultural areas and more direct knowledge of local needs. On the other hand, large municipalities face more complex challenges of managing large territories, where the maintenance of agricultural infrastructure may compete with other urban and social priorities.
Fire protection
Even in the fire service, small municipalities result in higher performance in relation to population. They have an average of 4 firefighters per 1,500 inhabitants, while medium-sized municipalities have 1.3, large municipalities 0.6, and the Municipality of Tirana only 0.5 firefighters per 1,500 inhabitants. Compared to the national average (0.9 firefighters), large municipalities and Tirana remain below this threshold. The same trend is observed in the ratio of fire trucks per 10,000 inhabitants, where small and medium-sized municipalities have higher coverage, indicating that the increase in the size of the municipality has not been accompanied by a proportional increase in emergency service capacities.
The data show that small municipalities have the best fire service coverage in relation to population, both in terms of the number of firefighters and fire vehicles. Conversely, as the size of the municipality increases, this ratio deteriorates, culminating in Tirana, which has the lowest level of coverage. This suggests that the concentration of population in large municipalities has not been accompanied by a proportional increase in fire protection service capacities.
***
Taken together, these data challenge the assumption that larger municipalities, due to their greater financial resources, broader revenue base, and greater administrative capacity, should automatically provide higher-performing public services. On the contrary, the indicators analyzed show that larger municipalities fail to translate their budgetary and institutional advantages into better outcomes for citizens. The lower level of per capita investment, poorer budget execution, lower coverage of preschool education, poorer maintenance of irrigation and drainage infrastructure, and lower fire service capacities relative to population indicate that size has not been associated with a proportional improvement in the quality and access to services.
Therefore, increasing the size of municipalities should not be considered a solution in itself. Economies of scale can only create advantages if they are accompanied by strong managerial capacities, effective planning mechanisms, good organization of services and maintaining proximity to communities. Otherwise, larger municipalities may produce larger institutions, but not necessarily better services.
*Expert on Governance and Anti-Corruption (Institute for Democracy and Mediation)
