Finanzas públicas y federalismo fiscal en cinco municipios de la provincia de Buenos Aires 2017-2022

The article conducted a descriptive quantitative study of public finances for five municipalities in the province of Buenos Aires during the period 2017-2022. The objective was to analyze various indicators of fiscal federalism and decentralization based on official sources (provincial and municipal) for subnational governments, while examining how the political cycle influences municipal public accounts. The following results stand out. First, there is a trend of frequent budget deficits and a high dependence on provincial revenue sharing. At the same time, the deficits are closely related to the political cycle, where the likelihood of their occurrence is high. Second, the ratio of public employees to population is usually high, which implies a greater financial burden per citizen of Buenos Aires. Third, provincial revenue sharing per capita shows progressivity, with more funds going to smaller municipalities. Fourth, certain evidence is established regarding the existence of the ‘Flypaper Effect.’