Finland has around 300 municipalities. Under the Constitution of Finland, municipalities are self-governing units and they have the right to tax their residents.
The state may only intervene in municipal activities in certain cases. The state may take part in the decision-making concerning the provision of municipal basic services, for example by introducing laws. Municipalities can set their own tax rates, but they also receive a share of the corporate tax revenue determined by Parliament. The state also supports municipalities economically by providing them with state aid for different purposes in accordance with the system of central government transfers.
In practice, municipalities and authorities that are part of local government cooperate closely with other authorities.
Municipalities are steered by political decision-making. The municipal council is the highest decision-making body in a municipality. Its members are elected by municipal residents for four years in local elections based on universal suffrage. The municipal council elects the members of the municipal executive, the task of which is to draft decisions for the council and put them into practice.
The municipal council also elects members to municipal committees, which are in charge of the provision of public services in the municipality. Their names and scope of activities vary by municipality. The most common of the committees are the education committee and the central municipal election board.
Municipalities are responsible for providing certain statutory basic services to their residents. The basic services are mostly funded with municipal taxes, central government transfers and fees charged for certain services.
Basic services provided by municipalities include
Municipalities may also provide their services in cooperation with other (usually neighbouring) municipalities.
Of the municipalities, only Helsinki organises health and social servicess for its residents. Health and social services for the residents of other municipalities are organised by the wellbeing services counties.