Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
AMME IDARESI DERGISI, sa.3, ss.59-79, 2023 (SSCI)
For effective budget management in municipalities, city councilors should actively participate in the planning and budgeting processes, and budget makers should possess comprehensive budget literacy that encompasses its essential elements. The purpose of this study is firstly to determine the budget literacy levels of the city councilors, who play an active role in the budgeting process in municipalities and hold significant decision-making responsibilities. It also aims to propose explicit and practical suggestions to contribute to increasing budget literacy levels. Within the scope of the study, a face-to-face survey was conducted with a total of 138 city councilors working in Canakkale Municipality, Bursa Metropolitan Municipality and Balikesir Metropolitan Municipality. After conducting the survey, semi-structured interviews were conducted with a total of 20 city councilors. Among them, 7 councilors were from Canakkale Municipality, 6 were from Balikesir Metropolitan Municipality, and the remaining 7 were from Bursa Metropolitan Municipality. The most important finding obtained in the study indicates that there is a significant relationship between the knowledge levels of the councilors relating to budgeting and their level of participation in the budget negotiations. Higher budget literacy levels of city councilors lead to more active participation in budget negotiations. Therefore, it can be argued that a more effective and participatory budgeting process can be realized by increasing the budget literacy of city councilors.