The article looks at organisational and legal forms in the public finance sector. Bearing in mind the diverse rules of their creation and financing of public tasks, the main goal of the work was to analyse the principles of functioning of forms of financing public tasks operating under quasi-market conditions. The structure of the study reflects its specific objectives. It includes theoretical considerations regarding the criteria for choosing the organisational and legal form of financing public tasks and the legal basis for the functioning of executive agencies and budgetary authorities. In the empirical part of the work, the financial results of the forms discussed were analysed for the years 2011–2016 against the background of legal regulations. For methodology, the study uses comparative descriptive analysis. The research led to conclusions and observations that provide the basis for assessing the effectiveness of the forms of financing in the light of the financial results achieved, as well as for identifying discrepancies between statutory regulations and how they function.

Streszczenie: W artykule podjęto problematykę kontrowersji dotyczących udzielania pożyczek ze środków budżetu państwa dla JST. Uznając zasadność stosowania tego instrumentu, wskazano przede wszystkim na to, iż jednostki te są podmiotami sektora finansów publicznych. W części empirycznej dokonano analizy stopnia wykorzystania przez JST tych pożyczek w latach 2010-2014. Słowa kluczowe: pożyczki z budżetu państwa, jednostki samorządu terytorialnego wprowadzenie Kondycja finansowa jednostek samorządu terytorialnego (JST) jest uwarunkowana wieloma czynnikami, tak wewnętrznymi, jak i zewnętrznymi. Splot tych czynników sprawia, że niektóre z tych jednostek tracą płynność finansową. Zachodzi pytanie, czy i jakie instrumenty finansowe powinny być wówczas uruchomione, aby zapewnić ciągłość finansowania zadań tych podmiotów. W moim przekonaniu nie powinno budzić wątpliwości stwierdzenie, że w przypadku, gdy zła kondycja finansowa JST jest wynikiem działań legislacyjnych bądź organizacyjnych naczelnych organów władzy i administracji publicznej, to wskazana jest pomoc państwa w postaci udzielania pożyczek z budżetu państwa. Wątpliwości te pojawiają się jednak w sytuacji, gdy przyczyną braku płynności finansowej JST jest na przykład nieprawidłowe zarządzanie finansami tych jednostek. Celem niniejszego artykułu jest nie tylko zbadanie stopnia wykorzystania przez JST pożyczek udzielanych z budżetu państwa, ale przede wszystkim odpowiedź na pytanie, czy stosowanie tego instrumentu jest w ogóle zasadne.

Objectives: This paper aims to address a problem that includes the managing of the municipal economy by local government units (LGUs). The research issue raised regarded, in particular, the rules and organisational-legal norms for managing a municipal economy. Its expression is the posed hypothesis according to which what matters significantly for LGUs in the choice of form for conducting a municipal economy is both the character of the task as well as whether this form is recognised as a subject of the public finances sector, and, what follows, whether its indebtedness is subject to statutory restrictions and influences the financial situation of LGUs. Research Design & Methods:To verify a hypothesis formulated in such a way, firstly theoretical and legal aspects of managing a municipal economy by LGUs have been put forward. Next a comparative analysis for forms of managing a municipal economy by LGUs was conducted, i.e. a local self-government budgetary establishment and a municipal company, and the most significant characteristics of the discussed forms, as well as their effects being a result of their choice by LGUs, were indicated. Comparative and descriptive analysis has been used in this paper; it included analysis of financial data regarding the management of a municipal economy by LGUs, but in strict correlation with institutional and legal conditions for the realisation of public tasks and their conditioning.Findings: As a result of the research conducted, it has been concluded that changes taking place in the scope of forms of managing a municipal economy point towards more and more common tasks realised by LGUs both in the field of public utility as well as outside of the public utility zone in the form of commercial law companies.Contribution: Basic kinds of risks associated with the realisation of tasks by the budgetary establishment and municipal company have also been defined. Moreover, research results show that possibilities for such a wide operation result first and foremost from imprecise legal regulations, which are at the same time the only source of risk associated with the operation of such companies.