Local finance

Japanese: 地方財政 - ちほうざいせい

The finances of local governments. As of May 31, 2002, there were 47 prefectures and 3,218 cities, towns, and villages, totaling 3,265. The breakdown of cities, towns, and villages is as follows: 12 large cities, 25 core cities, 638 other cities, and 2,543 towns and villages. Special local governments include 23 special wards and 2,221 partial administrative associations (ordinary accounts in 2000). The actual financial situation of these organizations is extremely diverse. Local finance is the collective name and total of these diverse individual finances. In this respect, local finance is different in nature from national finance or central finance, which is the finance of a single entity called the nation. Due to the need to consolidate the individual finances of local governments, a distinction is made between ordinary accounts and local public business accounts (a collective name for public enterprise accounts and some business accounts) in addition to the actual accounting classification. Here, we will focus on ordinary accounts.

The scale of local finances in Japan is large. The total expenditures of the ordinary accounts of local governments slightly exceed the total expenditures of the national government. The total expenditures of the national government include a considerable amount of "expenditures from the national government to local governments" (local allocation tax, local transfer tax, national treasury disbursements, etc.), while the total expenditures of local governments include a small amount of "expenditures from the local government to the national government" (local government contributions). If these expenditures are deducted from the respective total expenditures and the two are compared, the scale of local finances is more than 1.5 times that of the national government.

When comparing national and local government expenditures by administrative purpose, the national government's share is high for local government finance expenses, defense expenses, and diplomatic expenses, which are by their very nature 100% national expenditures, as well as pension expenses and public debt service, but the proportion of these expenses in the total net expenditures of the national and local governments is not that large, except for public debt service. In contrast, for social security-related expenses, land conservation and development expenses, education expenses, institutional expenses, and industrial and economic expenses, which have a large proportion of expenses, the proportion of local governments is relatively high compared to the national government, which shows how important a role local government finances play in administrative fields closely related to the lives of residents and the industrial economy.

[Takeshi Okawa]

Changes in local government finances

The Meiji government's priorities were to establish a centralized political system, promote the rapid development of capitalism, and create a powerful military state. The development of local government systems was also carried out with this in mind.

After the abolition of feudal domains and the establishment of prefectures in 1871 (Meiji 4), the newly established prefectures were appointed with governors and other officials, and as their subordinate organizations, large and small wards were established in place of the districts, towns, and villages, with officially appointed ward chiefs and heads of households. However, in the face of contradictions with reality and growing political instability, the government was forced to enact the Three New Laws in 1878, which restored the districts, towns, and villages, and recognized limited local autonomy.

The City, Town and Village System was promulgated in 1888, and the Prefecture System in 1890. The aims of the system were to strengthen supervision of local governments and to give them the responsibility for part of national government. Under the City, Town and Village System, municipalities were granted legal status and the right to enact ordinances, but the appointment of a mayor required the Emperor's approval, the appointment of a town or village mayor required the approval of the governor, and only citizens could participate in the election of city, town and village council members. The main source of revenue was taken by the national and prefectural governments, and the main form of revenue was the imposition of surtax within certain limits. In addition, the imposition of local taxes and the issuance of bonds required the permission of both the Minister of the Interior and the Minister of Finance. Furthermore, the burden of delegated administrative expenses was made mandatory, and a system was established whereby if a municipality did not include expenses based on laws or orders from the governor or county governor in its budget or did not spend them, the governor or county governor could force the municipality to include them in the budget or spend them. Municipalities were obliged to carry out delegated administrative duties with limited financial resources, and had little room to carry out administrative duties independently.

The prefectural system did not affect the legal personality of prefectures, nor did it recognize their right to enact ordinances. Furthermore, excessive prefectural taxes and the issuance of bonds required the permission of both the Minister of the Interior and the Minister of Finance. As before, governors, who were civil servants, held great authority, and prefectures were essentially branch offices of the national government. In relation to the prefectural assemblies, when the prefectural assembly rejected expenses based on laws and regulations, the governors could execute the original proposal under the direction of the Minister of the Interior, and the Minister of the Interior could revise the budget within the limits of the original proposal. Under the supervisory authority of the Minister of the Interior and the executive authority of the governors, the prefectural assemblies were purely formal. At the same time as the prefecture system, the county system was also promulgated. Counties were under the supervision of the Minister of the Interior and the governors, and could be said to be subordinate organs of the prefectures.

As capitalism was established and developed after the Sino-Japanese and Russo-Japanese Wars, the demand for administrative services also increased, and special laws relating to industry, civil engineering, sanitation, and education were enacted one after another. As a result, the number of tasks delegated from the national government to local governments increased sharply. The local government system was also revised, and in 1899 the prefecture and county systems were completely revised, granting prefectures legal personality and direct election of prefectural assembly members. In 1911 (Meiji 44), the revised city and town system was promulgated, changing the executive body of a city from a council to a system in which the mayor was the sole director. However, the main focus of these revisions was to expand the authority of prefectural governors and city and town mayors over their assemblies, and to strengthen the control of supervisory authorities over local governments, in order to deal with the rapid increase in delegated tasks to local governments.

After World War I, the number of administrative tasks delegated to local governments increased with the progress of urbanization, and the scale of local finances expanded rapidly. In addition, the economic and financial disparities between cities and rural areas widened, and rural finances were particularly strained. For this reason, the Municipal Compulsory Education Expenses National Treasury Subsidy Law was enacted in 1918 (Taisho 7), which stipulated the national government's share of the cost of elementary school education, which accounts for a large proportion of the administrative costs delegated to municipalities. This marked a turning point in the development of the national treasury subsidy system in Japan.

The Taisho Democracy movement, which began around the time of World War I, also had an impact on the local government system. In 1923, the county system was abolished, in 1926, universal suffrage was implemented in local assembly elections, and the Emperor's approval and governor's approval in city and town mayoral elections were completely abolished. In 1929 (Showa 4), the right to enact ordinances was granted to prefectures, and the Minister of the Interior's power to reduce budgets was abolished. However, with limited financial resources and an increase in delegated affairs, local finances continued to be in dire straits. An increase in the independent tax, which was a tax on the masses, was imposed, and local bonds accumulated, leading to the rigidity of financial management. With the Taisho Democracy movement as a backdrop, there was also discussion of transferring national taxes such as land taxes and business taxes to local governments. However, in the tax system reorganization of 1926, such drastic reforms were shelved, and no expansion or strengthening of local taxes was achieved. This was because the national finances were strained and the need to secure financial resources for military expansion and industrial rescue took precedence.

The depression of 1929 hit the rural areas particularly hard, and the financial difficulties of the rural areas reached their peak. In response, the government enacted various legislations and implemented emergency relief projects from 1957 to 1959 to provide relief for the unemployed and promote rural development. This led to a sharp increase in local agricultural engineering expenditures. The promulgation of these laws and the implementation of these projects in the wake of the depression resulted in an even higher proportion of national delegated administrative expenditures. After the Manchurian Incident, the economy recovered, but regional disparities in economic development intensified, and the financial disparities between local governments became significant. In response, the Temporary Town and Village Financial Subsidy System was launched in 1936 with the aim of reducing the excessive tax burden on residents in distressed towns and villages. This was the beginning of the local finance adjustment system in Japan, and the following year it was renamed the Temporary Local Financial Subsidy, and prefectures and cities were also included in its scope.

When the Second Sino-Japanese War began in 1937, local governments were tasked with increasing production of important materials, providing military support, and carrying out air defense, putting pressure on the administration of civil affairs. In 1940, a major tax reform was implemented on national and local taxes to increase national tax revenues for the war effort and to secure local financial resources, and a thoroughly centralized local tax and financial system was established. Local taxes were centered on surcharges, and a new system of local allocation taxes consisting of refund taxes and distribution taxes was established. Of these, distribution taxes were a set percentage of specific national taxes allocated to local governments based on their taxing power and financial needs, and this established a full-fledged local financial adjustment system. With the reform of the prefecture, city, and town/village systems in 1943, after the start of the Pacific War, local governments were largely deprived of even formal autonomy, and were completely reduced to subordinate agencies of the national government.

[Takeshi Okawa]

Changes after World War II

After World War II, the occupying forces led the democratization of local government systems. The new constitution included a chapter on local autonomy, which guaranteed it, and the Local Autonomy Law, which came into force at the same time as the constitution in May 1947, stipulated the basic structure of local administration based on local autonomy. The work of local public organizations also expanded significantly with the implementation of the 6-3 compulsory education system and the launch of municipal police forces, in addition to war damage reconstruction, food production increases, and unemployment countermeasures. However, the financial resources to support these policies were insufficient, despite a series of local tax system reforms made between 1946 and 1948, and with rising inflation, local finances fell into extreme poverty.

In 1949, the Shoup Tax Mission submitted its Report on the Japanese Tax System. The purpose of this report was to support the Dodge Line, which aimed to curb inflation and promote capital accumulation, from a taxation perspective. However, with regard to local finance, it included important proposals from the standpoint of strengthening local autonomy, such as expanding local tax sources, abolishing the surcharge system, establishing an equalization grant system, drastically streamlining national treasury subsidies, and relaxing restrictions on bond issuance. Based on these recommendations by Shoup, a radical reform of the local tax and financial system was implemented in 1950. The local tax system was reorganized around a value-added tax for prefectures (the implementation of which was postponed and eventually abolished in 1954), and around resident taxes and property taxes for municipalities, and a system of equalization grants for local finance was created to guarantee a certain level of administration for local governments. However, the streamlining of national treasury subsidies was met with resistance from each ministry and agency and ended up being extremely incomplete.

After the Korean War (1950-53), a series of democratization policies were revised and control over local governments was strengthened. In 1951, the Cabinet Order Advisory Committee proposed simplifying administrative structures and drastically streamlining administrative affairs, and the Local Government Simplification Headquarters was established. In 1952, the Local Autonomy Law was revised to abolish the Local Finance Committee, simplify local administrative structures, and abolish the direct election of special ward mayors. In 1953, the Town and Village Merger Promotion Law was promulgated, and in 1954, two education laws were enacted to restrict the political activities of compulsory education officials, and the Police Law was revised to unify municipal police forces into prefectural police forces. Also in this year, the so-called Shoup tax system was significantly revised, with the Local Finance Equalization Grant System being reorganized into the Local Allocation Tax System, prefectural taxes being strengthened through the creation of a prefectural inhabitant tax, and a new local transfer tax system being established.

During this period, local finances were in a difficult situation due to the recession following the Korean War, an increase in administrative tasks and inadequate financial measures, and the number of local governments in the red increased, with 2,281 local governments, or 38.5% of all local governments, falling into the red at the end of fiscal year 1979. The government enacted the Local Government Financial Reconstruction Promotion Special Measures Law in 1980, and under its guidance attempted to reconstruct finances through thorough rationalization, but thanks in part to the effects of the high economic growth that began at the time, the number of local governments in the red and the amount of their deficits subsequently rapidly decreased.

Japan's economy achieved remarkable growth in the 1960s. In response, the government focused its efforts on regional development and the development of industrial infrastructure, which had been a bottleneck in economic growth. In 1987, the Comprehensive National Development Plan was drawn up, and under the banner of hub development, new industrial cities and special industrial development areas were designated. Local governments played a key role in implementing these policies, supporting Japan's rapid economic growth. However, on the other hand, not only did the development of living infrastructure slow down, but problems such as overcrowding, depopulation, pollution, and environmental destruction also became more serious.

After the first oil shock in the fall of 1973, the Japanese economy entered a period of low growth, and both the national and local governments faced a chronic shortage of financial resources. The measures taken by the government to address the local government's financial resource shortage from fiscal 1975 onwards were mainly debt policies, such as borrowing from the special local allocation tax account and increasing the issuance of local bonds. In addition, the Second Provisional Administrative Reform Council, which was launched in 1976 with the slogan "Fiscal reconstruction without tax increases," submitted five reports, emphasizing rationalization, cost reduction, and increased burdens on beneficiaries and local governments. In January 1985, the government instructed local governments to draw up an "Administrative Reform Outline" to realize simple and efficient administration, and promoted policies in line with these reports, such as a uniform reduction in the subsidy rate for so-called high-rate subsidies in fiscal 1985 and 1986 to reduce the burden on the national treasury.

From the second half of the 1980s onwards, the economy started to improve and entered the so-called bubble economy. As a result, the national and local governments' financial conditions gradually improved, with the national government breaking away from its reliance on deficit bonds in FY1990 (Heisei 2), and local governments also becoming free from having to rely on borrowing from the Local Allocation Tax Special Account (until FY1986) or issuing financial resource countermeasure bonds (until FY1987). From FY1987 onwards, local governments began to use the increase in local allocation tax due to the natural increase in national tax revenues to repay borrowings from the Local Allocation Tax Special Account, and by the end of FY1991, they had almost completely eliminated the outstanding debt. However, when the bubble burst in 1991 and the country fell into the Heisei recession, sluggish tax revenues and increased project costs for economic stimulus measures meant that both the national and local governments once again found themselves in huge financial resource shortages, and local governments were forced to rely on borrowings from the Local Allocation Tax Special Account and increased issuance of local bonds.

The 1990s was also a time when discussions on decentralization intensified and the first steps were taken. In 1995, the Decentralization Promotion Law was passed and the Decentralization Promotion Committee was launched. The committee submitted a series of recommendations aimed at "creating a decentralized society," proposing the abolition of agency delegated affairs and the allocation of affairs to autonomous affairs and statutory entrusted affairs, the transfer of administrative authority from the national government to local governments, and the reduction or abolition of national involvement in local governments. Based on these proposals, the Decentralization Promotion Plan was drawn up in 1998, and work was carried out to amend the relevant laws to implement the plan, leading to the enactment of the Omnibus Decentralization Law in April 2000. This can be said to be a groundbreaking reform for decentralization, but much remains to be done in the future, such as the review of the local finance system to make decentralization more effective. Regarding this, the Decentralization Promotion Committee's second recommendation proposed (1) the nature of the sharing of expenses between the national and local governments, (2) streamlining of national treasury subsidies and contributions, (3) reform of the operation and involvement of existing national treasury subsidies and contributions, and (4) ensuring sufficient local tax revenue sources. Some of these issues have been taken up in legal reforms, such as changing the permission system for non-statutory ordinary taxes to a prior consultation system, creating a non-statutory special purpose tax (prior consultation system), and changing the local bond permission system to a prior consultation system, but basic proposals such as the streamlining of national treasury subsidies and contributions and ensuring sufficient local tax revenue sources have yet to be addressed.

[Takeshi Okawa]

Recent trends and issues

Looking at the size of local government finances (total net expenditures of prefectures and municipalities) as an index with fiscal 1985 set at 100, it showed a considerable increase of 139 in fiscal 1990 and 159 in fiscal 1992, but since then the growth has slowed significantly, stagnating at the 160s in fiscal 1993 and 1994, the 170s from fiscal 1995 to 1998, and 181 in fiscal 1999. This clearly reflects the bubble economy and its collapse.

Under these circumstances, the following changes were observed in the composition of expenditures. First, looking at the trends in the composition of expenditures by purpose for major expenses, in FY1985, education was 23.6%, civil engineering 20.5%, and social welfare 11.1%, but in FY1990, it was 21.2%, civil engineering 22.3%, and social welfare 10.8%, in FY1995, education 18.9%, civil engineering 23.3%, and social welfare 12.1%, and in FY1999, it was 17.9%, civil engineering 20.6%, and social welfare 14.8%. The proportion of education expenses has decreased, while that of social welfare expenses has increased. In contrast, the proportion of civil engineering expenses rose to the 22% range from FY1987 to FY1991, and to the 23-24% range from FY1992 to FY1995, and has since declined slightly. The increase since FY1992 corresponds to the increase in construction project expenses as an economic stimulus measure. The increase in the proportion of welfare expenses is due to the high growth in social welfare expenses (expenses for supporting physically and mentally disabled persons, etc.) and welfare expenses for the elderly, which were caused by the implementation of the old and new Gold Plans (established in 1989, revised in 1994), etc. The proportion of these two expenses in welfare expenses has risen sharply, from 49.7% in fiscal 1989, to 55.1% in fiscal 1995, and to 60.3% in fiscal 1999.

Next, looking at the trends in the composition of major expenses by nature (in the order of personnel expenses, ordinary construction work expenses, and public debt service), they were 32.0%, 26.8%, and 10.2%, respectively, in FY1985, but fell to 28.4%, 28.8%, and 8.3% in FY1990, 26.1%, 31.4%, and 8.7% in FY1995, and 26.6%, 25.7%, and 11.6% in FY1999. The proportion of personnel expenses has continued to decline from the 30% range, and has remained at around 26-27% since FY1992. This is the result of the review of administrative operations and the rationalization of personnel management under the administrative reform. In contrast, the proportion of ordinary construction work expenses has continued to rise, reaching the 30% range from FY1992 to FY1996, and then declining. This corresponds to the change in the proportion of civil engineering expenses in the composition of expenditures by purpose mentioned above. During this period, local governments were required to implement regional development policies, basic public investment plans to expand domestic demand, and economic measures after the collapse of the bubble economy, and local governments took on many of these projects by increasing their independent projects. The ratio of subsidized project expenses to independent project expenses in ordinary construction project expenses was 53:42 (plus contributions to national projects directly managed by the national government) in fiscal 1985, but reversed to 38:58 in fiscal 1990, 40:55 in fiscal 1995, and 45:49 in fiscal 1999. The aim was to make up for the national government's financial difficulties with independent projects, and special national financial measures were taken to cover independent project expenses. Finally, the weight of public debt expenses (principal and interest repayments of local government bonds and interest on temporary loans) fell slightly from 10.2% in fiscal 1985 to the 8% range from fiscal 1989 to 1995, but has exceeded 10% again since fiscal 1997. In fiscal 1999, the breakdown of local government bond principal redemptions showed that those related to general individual project bonds accounted for the largest proportion, at over 40%, reflecting the results of financial resources measures for individual project expenses.

What was the state of the financial resources to cover the expenditures described above? First, let us look at the changes in the composition of the major financial resources during the same period (in order: local taxes, local allocation tax, national treasury disbursements, and local bonds). In fiscal 1985, the respective ratios were 40.6%, 16.4%, 18.3%, and 7.8%, and in fiscal 1990 they were 41.6%, 17.8%, 13.3%, and 7.8%, with a particularly noticeable decline in the proportion of national treasury disbursements. In fiscal 1995, the respective ratios were 33.2%, 15.9%, 14.9%, and 16.8%, with a significant decline in the proportion of local taxes and an increase in the proportion of local bonds. Furthermore, in fiscal 1999, the ratios were 33.7%, 20.1%, 16.0%, and 12.6%, with a slight decline in the proportion of local bonds and a large increase in the proportion of local allocation tax. These changes in the composition of financial resources are driven primarily by changes in local taxes and national treasury disbursements.

The proportion of local taxes accounted for 40% from 1985 to 1991, but fell below 40% from 1992, dropping to the 33% range in 1994 and 1995. It then rose slightly, but fell back to the 33% range in 1999. Furthermore, the proportion of national treasury disbursements, which accounted for 20% in the 1960s and 1970s, began to decline rapidly in the 1980s, and has remained at the 13-14% range since 1988. This was due to cuts in national treasury disbursements as part of the national government's expenditure restraint measures. In other words, the decline in the proportion of national treasury disbursements in the 1980s, and the decline in the proportion of local taxes due to the recession in the 1990s, became major factors in financial pressure. Local allocation tax and local bonds were mainly used to make up for this. Local allocation tax remained at around 16-17% during this period, while local bonds were at 7-8% until fiscal 1991, but rose sharply from fiscal 1992 onwards, reaching 14-16% from fiscal 1993 to 1998.

The financial resource shortages faced by local governments due to the reduction in the national treasury subsidy rate that began in 1985 were addressed by increasing the local allocation tax (borrowings from the local allocation tax special account, etc.) and increasing the issuance of local construction bonds, and ultimately led to a review of the tax items covered by the local allocation tax. The bubble economy in the late 1980s gave local governments the leeway to use natural revenue increases to repay debts, but the collapse of the bubble led to a decline in local tax revenues, and local governments once again faced huge financial resource shortages. The financial resource shortages of local governments increased from 630 billion yen in fiscal 1991 to 2.29 trillion yen in fiscal 1992, 3.43 trillion yen in fiscal 1993, and 7.44 trillion yen in fiscal 1994, and are expected to reach 14.3 trillion yen in fiscal 2001. The response to this problem is the same approach taken from the late 1970s to the early 1980s: increasing the issuance of financial resource countermeasure bonds and increasing the local allocation tax. The aforementioned maintenance of the ratio of local allocation tax to local government expenditures and the sharp increase in the ratio of local bonds are the results of these measures. However, there are limits to this method of shifting the burden to future generations.

As for local finances, the task is not only to restore their soundness, but also to strengthen them as a foundation for the advancement of decentralization. To this end, it is necessary to actively streamline and rationalize national treasury expenditures with the aim of limiting them to what is truly necessary, and to expand local taxes so as to reduce as much as possible the gap between local expenditures and tax revenues (for example, in fiscal 1999, local taxes accounted for only 61% of general financial resources). In so doing, efforts must be made to minimize disparities in tax revenues among local governments by allocating local taxes that are less unevenly distributed and have stable tax revenues. The local allocation tax will still need to play a role in adjusting any remaining disparities in tax revenues. However, it is most important that local taxes are allocated appropriately so that the role of the local allocation tax can be minimized.

[Takeshi Okawa]

"Local Government Finance White Paper" edited by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, various editions (Ministry of Finance Printing Bureau)" ▽ "Local Government Finance Reader (4th edition)" edited by Susumu Sato and Takehisa Hayashi (1994, Toyo Keizai Inc.)" ▽ "Local Government Finance System and Its Management" edited by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Finance Bureau (1996, Local Finance Association)" ▽ "New Edition: Article-by-Article Commentary on the Local Government Finance Law" by Nobuo Ishihara and Masahiro Futahashi (2000, Gyosei)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

地方公共団体の財政のこと。2002年（平成14）5月31日現在、普通地方公共団体の数は、都道府県が47、市町村が3218の計3265である。市町村の内訳は、大都市が12、中核市が25、その他の都市が638、町村が2543である。また特別地方公共団体には23の特別区、2221の一部事務組合（2000年、普通会計）などが含まれる。これらの団体の財政の実態はきわめて多様である。地方財政とは、この多様な個別財政の総称であり、合計である。この点で、地方財政は国家という単一の主体の財政である国家財政または中央財政とは性格が異なる。地方公共団体の個別財政を一括する必要から、実際の会計区分とは別に、普通会計と地方公営事業会計（公営企業会計と一部の事業会計の総称）という区分が用いられている。ここでは普通会計を中心に説明する。

　わが国の地方財政の規模は大きい。地方公共団体の普通会計の歳出総額は国の歳出総額をやや上回っている。国の歳出総額にはかなりの額の「国から地方に対する支出」（地方交付税、地方譲与税、国庫支出金など）が含まれており、逆に地方公共団体の歳出総額には若干の「地方から国に対する支出」（地方公共団体の負担金）が含まれているので、これらの支出をそれぞれの歳出総額から控除して両者を比較すると、地方財政の規模は国の財政の1.5倍以上にもなる。

　国と地方の歳出を行政目的別に比較すると、国の占める比率が高いのは、その性質上100％国の支出である地方財政費、防衛費、外交費のほか、恩給費、公債費などであるが、これらが経費の国・地方を通じる歳出純計額に占める比重は、公債費を除いてはそれほど大きくない。これに対して、その比重の大きい社会保障関係費、国土保全および開発費、教育費、機関費、産業経済費では、国との関係で地方の占める比率が相対的に高く、住民生活や産業経済に密着した行政分野において、地方財政がいかに大きな役割を担っているかがわかる。

［大川　武］

地方財政の変遷

中央集権的な政治体制の確立、急速な資本主義の発展、強力な軍事国家の形成が明治政府の課題であった。地方制度の整備もこの意図のもとに進められた。

　1871年（明治4）の廃藩置県後、新たに設置された府県には官選の知事などを配置し、その末端組織として、郡区町村にかえて大区・小区を設け、官選の区長・戸長を置いた。しかし、現実との矛盾、政情不安の高まりのなかで、政府は1878年に三新法を制定して、郡区町村を復活し、地方に限定された自治を認めざるをえなくなった。

　1888年に市制町村制、90年には府県制が公布された。地方に対する監督を強化し、国政の一部を地方に担わせることなどがそのねらいであった。市制町村制では、市町村に法人格を認め、条例制定権を与えたが、市長選任には天皇の裁可、町村長選任には知事の認可を必要とし、市町村会議員の選挙には公民だけが参加しうるとした。主要な財源は国や府県に取り上げられて、一定の制限内での付加税の賦課が中心であった。また、地方税の賦課、起債などにあたっては、内務・大蔵両大臣の許可が必要とされた。さらに、委任事務費の負担を義務づけ、市町村が法令または知事・郡長の命令に基づく経費を予算にのせず、または支出しないときは、知事・郡長は強制的にこれを予算に加え、または支出させることができる制度を設けた。市町村は制限された財源のなかで委任事務の実施を義務づけられ、自主的な事務を行う余裕をほとんどもたなかった。

　府県制は府県の法人格には触れず、条例制定権も認めなかった。また、府県税の超過課税や起債については、内務・大蔵両大臣の許可が必要であった。従来どおり官吏である知事が強大な権限をもち、府県は実質上は国の出先機関に近い存在であった。府県会との関係では、知事は、府県会が法令に基づく経費を否決したとき、内務大臣の指揮を受けて原案を執行することができ、内務大臣は原案の金額の範囲内で予算を修正することができた。内務大臣の監督権と知事の執行権のもとで、府県会はまったく形だけのものであった。なお、府県制と同時に郡制も公布された。郡は内務大臣・知事の監督を受け、府県の下部機関といってよかった。

　日清(にっしん)・日露戦争を経て資本主義が確立し発展するにつれて、行政需要も増大し、産業、土木、衛生、教育に関する特別法令が次々に制定された。それに伴い国から地方への委任事務が急増した。地方制度の手直しも行われ、1899年の府県制、郡制の全面改正で、府県の法人格が認められ、府県会議員の選挙が直接選挙制となった。1911年（明治44）には改正市制、町村制が公布され、市の執行機関が参事会から市長の独任制に改められるなどした。しかし、これらの改正の重点は、地方の委任事務の激増に対応するために、府県知事・市町村長の議会に対する権限を拡大し、監督官庁の地方に対する統制を強化することにあった。

　第一次世界大戦後、都市化の進展に伴って地方への委任事務がさらに増大し、地方財政の規模は急激に膨張した。また、このなかで都市と農村の経済力、したがって財政力の格差が拡大し、農村財政の窮迫はとくに著しかった。このため、1918年（大正7）には、市町村の委任事務費として大きな比重を占める小学校費に対する国の経費分担を定めた市町村義務教育費国庫負担法が成立した。これはわが国の国庫補助制度の発展に一時期を画するものであった。

　第一次世界大戦前後から始まった大正デモクラシーの運動は地方制度のうえにも影響を及ぼした。1923年には郡制廃止、26年には地方議会選挙における普通選挙の実施、市町村長選挙における天皇の裁可や知事の認可の全廃、29年（昭和4）には府県に対する条例制定権の付与、内務大臣の予算削減権の廃止などが実現された。しかし、制約された財源と委任事務の増大のもとで、地方財政の窮迫は続いた。大衆課税的な独立税の増徴がなされ、地方債が累増して財政運営の硬直化が進んだ。大正デモクラシーの運動を背景に、国税の地租と営業税の地方への移譲も論議された。しかし、1926年の税制整理では、こうした抜本的な改革は見送られ、地方税の拡充強化は果たされなかった。国の財政の逼迫(ひっぱく)と軍備拡張、産業救済のための財源確保の必要が先行したためである。

　1929年の恐慌はとくに農村に強い打撃を与え、農村財政の窮乏はその極に達した。これに対して、政府は各種の立法措置を講ずるとともに、32年から34年にかけて、失業者救済と農村振興を図るため時局匡救(きょうきゅう)事業を実施した。これによって地方の農業土木事業費は急増した。恐慌に伴うこれらの法令の公布や事業の実施は、国政委任事務費の割合をいっそう高める結果となった。満州事変後、景気回復とともに経済発展の地域的不均衡は一段と激化し、地方公共団体間の財政力格差が甚だしくなった。そこで、36年に、窮迫した町村における住民の過重な税負担を軽減する目的で、臨時町村財政補給金制度が発足した。わが国における地方財政調整制度の萌芽(ほうが)で、翌年には臨時地方財政補給金と改められ、道府県と市をもその対象に含めた。

　1937年に日中戦争が始まると、重要物資の増産、軍事援護、防空などが地方の仕事に加わり、民生関係の行政を圧迫した。40年には、戦争遂行のための国税収入の増大と地方財源の保障を目的として、国税・地方税を通ずる大規模な税制改正が実施され、徹底した中央集権的な地方税財政制度が成立した。地方税は付加税中心となり、新たに還付税と配付税からなる地方分与税が設けられた。このうち配付税は、特定の国税の一定割合を地方公共団体の課税力と財政需要を基準として配分するもので、これによって本格的な地方財政調整制度が確立された。太平洋戦争突入後の43年の府県制および市制、町村制の改正によって、地方公共団体は形式上の自治をさえ大幅に奪われ、まったく国の下部機関と化した。

［大川　武］

第二次世界大戦後の変遷

第二次世界大戦後、占領軍の主導のもとに地方制度の民主化も進められた。新憲法は地方自治の章を設けてこれを保障し、1947年（昭和22）5月に憲法と同時に施行された地方自治法は、地方自治を基礎とした地方行政の基本的な仕組みを規定した。また、地方公共団体の仕事は、戦災復興、食糧増産、失業対策などに加えて、六三制義務教育の実施や自治体警察の発足などによって著しく拡大した。しかし、これらの施策を裏づける財源は、46年から48年にかけて一連の地方税制の改正が行われたものの十分ではなく、インフレの高進もあって、地方財政は極度の困窮に陥った。

　1949年に、シャウプ税制使節団の日本税制報告書が提出された。これは、インフレを抑え資本蓄積を促進しようとするドッジ・ラインを税制面から支えることを目的としたものであったが、地方財政に関しては、地方自治強化の立場から、地方税源の拡充、付加税制度の廃止、平衡交付金制度の創設、国庫補助金の大幅な整理、起債制限の緩和など重要な提案を含むものであった。このシャウプ勧告に基づいて、50年に地方税財政制度の抜本的な改正が実施された。地方税体系は、道府県税は付加価値税（実施は延期され、結局1954年に廃止）を、市町村税は住民税と固定資産税を柱に再編成され、地方公共団体に一定水準の行政の実施を保障する地方財政平衡交付金制度が創設された。しかし、国庫補助金の整理は各省庁の抵抗にあってきわめて不徹底なものに終わった。

　朝鮮戦争（1950～53年）を境にして、一連の民主化政策の手直しが始まり、地方に対する統制も強められるようになった。1951年には、政令諮問委員会が行政機構の簡素化と行政事務の大幅な整理を提案し、地方行政簡素化本部が設置された。52年には、地方財政委員会の廃止や地方行政機構の簡素化、特別区長公選制の廃止などを含む地方自治法の改正があった。53年には町村合併促進法が公布され、54年には義務教育職員の政治活動を制限する教育二法の制定、自治体警察を都道府県警察に一元化する警察法の改正が行われた。また、この年には、地方財政平衡交付金制度の地方交付税制度への改組、道府県民税の創設などによる道府県税の強化、地方譲与税制度の新設など、いわゆるシャウプ税制の大幅な手直しがあった。

　この時期の地方財政は、朝鮮戦争後の不況、事務事業の増加と不十分な財源措置などが原因で苦況に立たされ、赤字団体が増加し、54年度末には全地方公共団体の38.5％にあたる2281団体が赤字団体に転落した。政府は、55年に地方財政再建促進特別措置法を制定し、その指導のもとに徹底した合理化による財政再建を図ったが、おりから始まった高度経済成長の影響もあって、赤字団体数と赤字額はその後急速に減少した。

　1960年代にわが国の経済は目覚ましい成長を遂げた。これに対応して、政府は、経済発展の隘路(あいろ)となっていた産業基盤の整備と地域開発に力を注いだ。62年には全国総合開発計画が策定され、拠点開発の旗印のもとに新産業都市や工業整備特別地域の指定が行われた。地方公共団体はこれらの政策の実質的な担い手となり、高度成長を支えた。しかし、その反面で、生活基盤の整備が遅れただけでなく、過密・過疎、公害、環境破壊などの問題も深刻化した。

　1973年秋の第一次オイル・ショック以後、わが国の経済は低成長時代に移り、国・地方とも恒常的な財源不足に直面することになった。75年度以降の地方の財源不足に対して政府が講じた措置は、主として交付税特別会計の借入れと地方債の増発という借金政策であった。また、76年に「増税なき財政再建」を看板に発足した第二次臨時行政調査会は五次にわたる答申を提出し、合理化と経費節減、受益者と地方の負担増などを強調した。政府は、85年1月には地方公共団体に対して、簡素にして効率的な行政を実現するための「行政改革大綱」をまとめるように指示し、また85、86年度には国庫負担の軽減を図るために、いわゆる高率補助金の補助率の一律削減を行うなど、この答申に沿った政策を推進した。

　1980年代後半以降、景気が上昇し、いわゆるバブル景気に入るとともに、国、地方の財政状態も徐々に好転し、国では90年度（平成2）に赤字国債依存から脱却し、地方でも交付税特別会計の借入れ（86年度まで）や財源対策債の発行（87年度まで）に頼らなくてもすむようになった。また87年度以降は、国税の自然増収による地方交付税の増加分を財源に交付税特別会計の借入金の返済を始め、91年度末までに借入金残高をほとんど解消することができた。しかし、91年以降のバブル崩壊により平成不況に陥ると、税収の伸び悩み、景気対策のための事業費の増大等から、国も地方もふたたび巨額の財源不足に陥って、地方財政は交付税特別会計の借入金や地方債の増発という借金に頼らざるをえなくなる。

　1990年代はまた、地方分権論議が活発化し、その第一歩が踏み出された時期でもある。95年に地方分権推進法が成立し、地方分権推進委員会が発足した。委員会は「分権型社会の創造」を目ざして数次にわたる勧告を提出し、そのなかで機関委任事務の廃止と自治事務および法定受託事務への振り分け、国から地方への事務権限の移譲、国の地方に対する関与の縮小・廃止などを提案した。これらの提案に基づいて、98年に地方分権推進計画が策定され、実施のための関連法の改正作業が進められて、2000年4月に地方分権一括法が施行された。これは地方分権にとって画期的な改革といえるが、地方分権を実効あるものとする地方財政制度の見直しについては、今後の課題として残されたものが多い。これについて地方分権推進委員会の第二次勧告は、(1)国と地方の経費負担のあり方、(2)国庫補助負担金の整理合理化、(3)存続する国庫補助負担金にかかわる運用・関与の改革、(4)地方税財源の充実確保などを提案していた。法定外普通税の許可制から事前協議制への変更、法定外目的税の創設（事前協議制）、地方債許可制度の事前協議制への変更など法改正で取り上げられたものもあるが、国庫補助負担金の整理合理化や地方税財源の充実確保などの基本的な提案については、まだほとんど手がつけられていない。

［大川　武］