Annex 2:Local Self-Governance System

Participatory Budgeting in Asia 177

civic forums and efforts to improve taxation in huai-kapi tao, thailand. Huai-Kapi is a mixed urban/rural subdistrict in Chonburee Province,Thailand,with more than 11,000 residents.In 1999 the subdistrict level,called tambon administrative organization (TAO),initiated an overhaul ofits public finance management systems (including budgeting,taxation,and financial management) with the introduction ofparticipatory budgeting.The change followed the introduction oflegislation supporting participatory budgeting by the Ministry of the Interior.Huai-Kapi created civic forums at the village level,culminating in a subdistrict forum.

The civic forum process in Huai-Kapi is supported by annual household surveys,aimed at improving the quality ofinformation on citizen needs and preferences.The surveys include general questions about households (size, age structure,access to services),as well as questions on urgent household needs and the prioritization ofcommunity problems and needs.The survey results are fed into the civic forums.

Huai-Kapi also adopted three measures to use citizen participation to improve local tax collection—creating a civic tax committee,providing civic tax education,and improving the tax collection process.The civic tax committee includes TAO officials,village heads,and local business representatives.It is tasked with conducting a field survey,meeting with taxpayers, and recommending measures to improve tax collection.Tax committee members also play a significant role in finding,bargaining with,and bringing new taxpayers into the tax system.

The Huai-Kapi program improved both expenditure quality and tax collection.Survey results reveal that citizen satisfaction with the local development plan,with the allocation offunds,and with services has grown. Local tax revenues increased by 48 percent in the three years following the introduction ofthe tax committee (Suwanmala 2004).

civic forums in suan mon tao, thailand. Suan Mon TAO,Thailand,comprises 14 villages,with a total population of7,881 citizens.The majority oftaxpayers are poor farmers,which means that the TAO depends on transfers from the central government.

The TAO has a long history ofcivic activism.Inability under the old system to resolve conflicts between interest groups and between villages led to a budget that was “pork-barreled”:more and more projects were loaded onto the budget,and prioritization was weak.In 1998 the Ministry ofthe Interior’s regulation on participation at local levels created the opportunity for the TAO to establish civic forums (made up oflocal leaders,interest