County authority accounts, 2008

Gross operating surplus experienced a substantial reduction in 2008. The operating surplus was at minus NOK 104 million or minus 0.2 per cent of the gross operating revenues, resulting in a downfall of about NOK 724 million from the previous year. From 2005-2007, the county municipalities’ gross operating revenues exceeded the operating expenditures, whereas in 2008 the expenditures rose more than the revenues. The gross operating expenditure totalled NOK 43.9 billion, whereas the gross operating revenue totalled NOK 43.8 billion.

In 2008, the total net operating surplus for the county municipalities constituted 2. 9 per cent of the total gross operating revenues compared to 4 per cent in 2007. Despite this decline, the county municipalities’ economy can still be regard as favourable.

Income and capital taxes account for the largest share of county municipalities’ revenues and constitute approximately 40 per cent of the total gross revenues. This is a slight fall from 2007 to 2008. Government subsidiaries increased by 0.5 per cent during the same period and account for approximately 35 per cent of the county municipalities’ gross revenues.

Instalment expenditures increase by NOK 117 million

Revenues obtained from net interest increased by 74 per cent or about NOK 325 million to NOK 764 million from 2007 to 2008. Likewise, the net instalment expenditures increased by around NOK 117 or 14 per cent to NOK 947 million during the same period. Since 2005, the net instalments have increased by about NOK 238 million, whereas the net interest has increased by approximately NOK 371 million.

Deficit before loan and allocations increased significantly in 2008. In 2008, the deficit before loans and allocations was about NOK 2.7 billion; an increase of NOK 1 billion since 2007 and a total increase of about NOK 2.5 billion from the year 2005. The huge deficit is as a result of the weak operational results combined with the higher levels of investment. In 2008, the county municipalities used NOK 263 million in applied funds while in 2007 NOK 471 was allocated to funds.

Increase in the use of applied loans

The level of investments has continuously increased from 2005 to 2007. In 2008, the gross investment expenditures amounted to approximately NOK 5.4 billion; an increase of about NOK 2 billion since 2005. Since 2005, more than 50 per cent of investments have been financed by the use of applied loans.

Applied loans have gradually increased from about NOK 1.8 billion in 2005 to NOK 3.5 billion in 2008. Applied loans were used to finance approximately 65 per cent of the total gross capital expenditure in 2008 compared to 54 per cent in 2005. The investment revenues obtained from contributions, reimbursements and property sale revenues fell by about NOK 280 million in 2008 and amounted to almost NOK 330 million.

Expenditure portfolio

Upper secondary education and transport affairs represent the largest tasks assigned to the county municipalities and account for more than 72 per cent of the total gross operating expenditure. Gross operating expenditure for transport affairs and business activities has increased by 0.8 per cent and 1.2 per cent respectively, while other expenditure areas have declined compared to 2007.

County municipalities’ consolidated accounts

The county municipalities’ consolidated accounts showed that the net operating surplus was about NOK 1.3 billion in 2008 compared with NOK 1.7 billion in 2007. This was a downfall of around NOK 0.4 billion. Consolidated accounts’ net operating surplus constituted about NOK 1 billion of the county municipalities’ net operating surplus compared to NOK 33 million in 2007.

In 2008, the county municipalities’ units with separate accounts and local authority partnerships had a gross operating surplus of minus NOK 0.1 million, compared with NOK 0.6 million in 2007. In 2008, the consolidated units’ gross expenditure was higher than the gross revenues. The total gross expenditure was about NOK 44.6 billion, whereas the gross revenue was about NOK 44.5 billion. The consolidated units’ gross expenditure in 2008 contributed to about NOK 760 million of the county municipalities’ gross expenditure, whereas gross revenues were approximately NOK 740 million.

Investments levels in the consolidated units have continuously increased from the year 2005 to 2008. The gross operating expenditure was almost NOK 5.5 billion, compared to NOK 5 billion in 2007. This is an increase of almost NOK 0.5 billion from 2007. The consolidated units’ share of the county municipalities gross investment expenditure was approximately NOK 58 million in 2008 compared to NOK 46 million in 2007.

The county municipalities’ consolidated accounts consist of the county municipal accounts and accounts for county municipal units with separate accounts (FKF) and local authority partnerships (IKS). The local authority partnership accounts are divided on the basis of ownership shares. The elimination of the internal transactions between county municipalities and units with separate accounts is calculated based on available accounting details.

The response rate for the county municipalities’ units with separate accounts is 75 per cent. No estimates have been calculated for the missing units.

Tables:

• Table 1 Main figures for operating - and capital accounts and financing. County municipalities, audited figures 2005-2008. NOK Million
• Table 2 Main figures for operating - and capital accounts and financing. Consolidated county accounts, 2005-2008. NOK million
• Table 3 National key figures.County municipalites. Figures for 2005-2008