Nevertheless, questions remain about the efficiency of other administrative
services. A significant example is tax administration on the local level.
Using Mikesell’s (2003) taxonomy, we know that local taxes can be administered
centrally, locally, or by means of agreements or coadministration
among the levels of government. Such patterns are found in Argentina
regarding local taxes. In some instances, current obligations are legislated
and collected by one level and overdue amounts are managed by another.
However, there is a considerable sense, in this respect, that it is possible to
improve collection efficiency.34
The increase in size and dimension of difficulties suggests that in the larger
municipalities a critical mass has been developing, endowed with abilities to
manage more complex services. In some small localities, there are examples of
outstanding local management as well, both in efficiency and in results.
With reference to human resources, there is room to improve qualifications
in the local environment, enhancing skills in improving services for citizens.
However, although the recruitment and career attributes of personnel
are established by municipal and communal regulations, the progressive
introduction of collective bargaining agreements to local civil service has set
some constraints on decision making at that level. Anyway, within the general
requirements of the legal framework, the municipality is empowered to
appoint and dismiss personnel, as well as to punish them if they do not comply
with the regulations relating to their careers.
Yet in the broader picture, national, regional, and local administration
in Argentina has marked features of formalism that keep it deeply rooted
within a Weberian bureaucratic framework. Newer public management
models or those boosted by incentives and encouragements such as the
management-for-results model have yet to be perceived in Argentina in the
appropriate measure, and they are even less recognized within the realm of
local governments.35
In many municipalities, budgetary management reforms, such as the
introduction of budgeting of programs and results, have been pursued.36 In
small human settlements—sometimes hardly reaching a hundred people—
certain administrative complexities appear idealistic, when the daily challenges
involve coping with cleaning the streets, keeping road access clear,
controlling traffic, and maintaining a drinking water supply and street lighting
and a minimum of public health.
However, a view filled with a certain Manichaeism based on the alleged
lack of skill in local government has delayed feasible devolution measures
that could have strengthened the processes of decentralization by providing
for accountability at the local government level.