(De)Financing remunicipalisation

Abstract

One of the primary impediments to the realisation and success of remunicipalisation can be financing. Not all remunicipalisations require additional funding, but the costs of bringing services back in-house can be enormous, preventing remunicipalisation efforts from getting off the ground and constraining what is possible once in place. This article discusses the conditions under which financing is necessary for remunicipalisation and examines a variety of (potential) sources of funding. It compares the financial needs of ‘pragmatic’ versus ‘transformative’ remunicipalisations and discusses the availability and suitability of different sources of financing for each. The paper also asks whether remunicipalisation provides an opportunity to ‘definancialise’ public services, exploring the pros and cons of different funding options in this regard, with a focus on the potential for public banks to play a role in reducing the influence of private finance in the public arena.