THE IMPORTANCE OF FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT CONTROL FOR THE FISCAL STABILITY OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS IN CRISIS CONDITIONS

Purpose: The article attempts to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the finances of local government units and the financial management control carried out in local governments, with particular emphasis on the challenges related to the process of self-assessment of management control. The opportunities and threats caused by the COVID–19 pandemic on the functioning of local government units dictated by changing legislation in the field of income and expenses were presented.Research method: The following research methods were used in the study: the dogmatic-legal method, based on the analysis of normative material of legal acts from selected branches of law, reports, including those published by the Supreme Audit Office and the Minister of Finance, Polish and foreign literature on the subject; position of the jurisprudence. In the analysis of legal texts, legal text exegesis was used. An analysis was made of the regulations that influence the shaping of local government finances. Pre-pandemic data was also used for comparative purposes. Considerations were made on the distribution of funds within the Government Local Investment Fund.Thesis: Assessment of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on local government finances, taking into account the analysis of the control system for spending public funds in a dynamically changing environment.Demonstrating the need to introduce legislative changes that would improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the financial management control system in local government units, taking into account crisis conditions resulting from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.Originality/ value/ implications/ recommendations: The existing systemic risks, reconstruction tasks after the pandemic, as well as long-term challenges (e.g. climate change, demographic change, economic inequality) put the issue of the resilience of local government finances at the center of the debate on public management. One of the dimensions of this resilience is fiscal stability at the local government level.