Small Towns as Objects of Regional Policy in the Context of Fiscal Federalism

The relevance of choosing small towns as a research object is due to the fact that improving the lives of their residents has been declared a strategic priority for the state. This issue is being implemented within the framework of the federal project «Creating a comfortable urban environment» of the national project «Infrastructure for Life». The subject of the study is the regional policy in the Russian Federation in relation to small towns in the existing model of fiscal federalism. The purpose of the work is to analyze the current problems of small towns as objects of regional policy in the context of fiscal federalism and to develop recommendations for their leveling. The research applied methods of systematization, analysis of the regulatory framework and dynamics of statistical indicators. In-depth expert interviews with key representatives of various spheres of management in small towns of the Russian Federation were used as an information base. As a result of the study, the problems of the development of small towns in the Russian Federation are actualized, descriptive statistics of individual indicators of small towns are calculated, the primary problem of small towns in the context of budgetary federalism is identified – the insufficiency of the revenue side of the local budget, promising areas of regional state policy in relation to small towns are identified within the framework of the existing model of budgetary federalism. The practical significance of the study lies in the developed recommendations for optimizing regional policy in relation to small towns, which can be used by the relevant authorities. The conclusion is made: taking into account the uneven distribution of small towns across the territory of the Russian Federation, their development will enhance the process of economic alignment of the regions.

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