Only 86 municipalities reached a satisfactory level of financial effectiveness and efficiency, achieving at least 50% of the total possible score in 2024, as stated in a document prepared by the Center for Research in Accounting and Taxation of the Polytechnic Institute of Cávado and Ave (CICF/IPCA) with support from the Order of Certified Accountants (OCC) and the Court of Auditors (TdC).
The document is being presented today at the OCC auditorium in Porto from 9:45 a.m., with a broadcast on the Order’s YouTube channel.
The annual report notes that a total of 222 municipalities scored below 950 points (less than 50% of the total score) and the majority of the remaining municipalities (58 out of 86) scored between 50% and 70% of the total score.
The Financial Annual Rankings are based on a scoring system that can reach up to 1,900 points, covering 10 indicators: liquidity index, the ratio between EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) and operational income, the weight of payable liabilities in assets, liabilities per inhabitant, financial coverage rate of the expenses incurred, average payment period, degree of execution of the effective jump, total debt index 2021, surplus index, and direct taxes per inhabitant.
In large municipalities, Sintra (Lisbon district) leads with 1,695 points, followed by Maia (Porto) with 1,683 points, and Amadora (Lisbon) with 1,554 points.
For medium-sized municipalities, the ranking is led by Abrantes (Santarém), with 1,554 points, followed by Tavira (Faro) with 1,504 points, and Castelo Branco with 1,493 points.
Among smaller municipalities, Óbidos (Leiria) leads with 1,606 points, followed by Murtosa (Aveiro) with 1,583 points, and Santa Cruz das Flores (Autonomous Region of the Azores), with 1,573 points.
Of the 100 municipalities with the best classification, 13 are large, 35 medium, and 52 small, concluding that “50% of large municipalities, 36.5% of medium-sized municipalities, and 28% of small municipalities are represented in the ‘top 100’ list.”
“Thus, it appears that small municipalities have more difficulty integrating the ‘top 100’ ranking in terms of financial effectiveness and efficiency, mainly due to the low value of their own revenues, notably those from taxes,” the document states.
By district, it is noted that Faro, Lisbon, and the Madeira Region manage to have half or more of their municipalities in the list of the 100 municipalities with the best global evaluation in terms of financial effectiveness and efficiency, as stated in the document.
