The key goal of the paper is a comparative analysis of the use of general assets through selected benchmarking indicators. The term benchmarking is derived from the English word "benchmark", which can be translated as: standard, comparative point or benchmark. Therefore, the city that achieved the best value in the given indicator will be referred to by this name in the article. The object of the research is all Slovak district cities divided into size categories according to the number of inhabitants and the observed period is defined as five years, limited to the years 2014-2018. An essential part of the paper is also the final ranking of research objects according to their success in selected benchmarking indicators in order to find a benchmark in the field of municipal property management. Determining the final order of the selected sample of cities is in our conditions still an absent element in evaluating the effectiveness of the performance of the selected range of competencies of local units.

The primary self-governing unit of the local self-governing body in the Slovak Republic is a municipality. Its fundamental role is to take care of the comprehensive development of the municipal territory and the needs of its inhabitants. Currently, there are 2,890 municipalities in Slovakia, of which 140 are towns. Since these towns/cities play an increasingly important role in the economic, social and cultural development of the state, we deal with the evaluation of the economic results of the district towns in our article. We define the assumption that the level of financial self-sufficiency is influenced by the level of economic maturity of the territory where the city is located. The research findings suggest that the indicator of financial independency achieves the highest values in those towns located within the territories of Western and Central Slovakia, thus, in the most economically advanced areas of the country. The towns located within these areas are more populated because of better employment opportunities and low unemployment rates. The fiscal decentralization assumed an increase of own tax revenues of local self-government, however, the goal has only partially been fulfilled. The most significant item of tax revenue is personal income tax, which is the only one with the character of a share tax. The redistribution amount and criteria of this tax are beyond the power of the towns, although the revenues from this tax are included in their own tax revenues. Since there are considerable differences in the eco-Public Administration Issues. 2019. Special Issue II nomic levels of parts of the country and there are changes in the demographic structure and natural conditions, there is a need to re-assess the redistribution criteria of this tax into the budgets of the towns in Slovakia. We assume that this will result in a reduction of the differences in the scope and quality of provision of public services provided by these towns.

The aim of the paper is to present the results of research in the field of financial management of Slovak district cities for the period 2014-2018. We have endeavoured to analyse the past management of a selected sample of research objects through selected quantitative indicators of a benchmarking nature, as well as the discovery of positive and negative factors that had a significant impact on the overall management. A well-performed financial analysis should emphasize, above all, the elimination of the effects of negative factors and at the same time support the positive effects on the management of local units.