Decision making

Munici­pal self-admini­stra­tion has been guaran­teed in the Consti­tu­tion of Finland. The opera­tion of munici­pa­li­ties is gover­ned by the Local Govern­ment Act. The highest decision-making autho­rity in a munici­pa­lity is the Council, which is respon­sible for the local economy and opera­tion. Residents elect council members every four years.

The Munici­pal Board that is appoin­ted by the Council is respon­sible for the imple­men­ta­tion of the munici­pa­li­ty’s admini­stra­tion and economy in practice, prepa­ring items for the Council, super­vi­sing the munici­pa­li­ty’s interests and repre­sen­ting the munici­pa­lity.

Commit­tees are not obliga­tory, but in practice, commit­tees consis­ting of elected officials have been set up in every munici­pa­lity to take care of issues related to educa­tion, social and health services, and the environ­ment and commu­nity. This is also the case in Nurmes.

The tasks and juris­dic­tion of the City Board and the commit­tees are speci­fied in the admini­stra­tive rule appro­ved by the City Council.

City Council

The City Council has the decision-making autho­rity on the munici­pa­li­ty’s matters, unless otherwise stipu­la­ted, and if the Council has not trans­fer­red its autho­rity to another munici­pal body. The Council is respon­sible for the munici­pa­li­ty’s opera­tion and economy and makes impor­tant decisions concer­ning the munici­pa­lity.

Accor­ding to the law, the Council decides on, for example, which bodies are in opera­tion in the munici­pa­lity, and their tasks and autho­rity. The Council also decides on the organi­sa­tion of admini­stra­tion; for example, whether the munici­pa­lity will handle tasks within its own organi­sa­tion, whether a certain task will be handled in the form of a munici­pal public utility, whether a limited company will be establis­hed to take care of a task, etc.

The Council appro­ves the budget and decides on the general grounds for payments and invest­ment opera­tion and issuing a security. In principle, the Council selects members to the city’s bodies and establis­hes offices, and also appoints the most impor­tant offices. Tasks also include appro­ving the financial state­ments and deciding on the exemp­tion from liabi­lity.

The Council may sign its decision-making autho­rity to other bodies of the city by issuing ordinances. Members and deputies are elected in munici­pal elections for four calen­dar years following the election year.

In principle, Council meetings are held on the last Thurs­day of each month at 6.30 pm at the Hyvärilä Youth and Holiday Centre. The Council does not meet in July, unless there is a special reason to do so. Based on the decision of the Council’s chair­man, regular meetings can be omitted or held as additio­nal meetings at a speci­fied time if neces­sary due to the small number of items to be handled and the fact that the items are not urgent.

City Board

The City Board functions as the head of city admini­stra­tion. The Board is respon­sible for the admini­stra­tion and economy of the munici­pa­lity. While managing the admini­stra­tion, it controls and adapts the opera­tion of various bodies and officers of the city and takes care of the practical issues of the admini­stra­tion. The respon­si­bi­lity for financial admini­stra­tion inclu­des accoun­ting, monetary transac­tions, inter­nal auditing and other organi­sa­tion of financial admini­stra­tion.

The City Board prepa­res the items to be handled by the Council and is also respon­sible for the imple­men­ta­tion of the Council’s decisions and super­vi­sing legiti­macy. The overall duty of the Board is also to safeguard the city’s interests. Unless otherwise regula­ted by an ordinance, the Board repre­sents the munici­pa­lity and uses its right of action.

In principle, the meetings of the City Board are held on the first and third Monday each month at 6 p.m.

Person­nel Affairs Section

The City Board’s Person­nel Affairs Section resol­ves matters related to person­nel policy that are within its autho­rity and prepa­res align­ments in connec­tion with the person­nel policy. The section solves matters related to salaries, for example, when the matter has been submit­ted to the munici­pa­lity for consi­de­ra­tion within the time speci­fied in an agree­ment and decides on the grounds for salaries that will be applied locally. The Person­nel Affairs Section assembles as neces­sary.

Commit­tees

The following commit­tees are in opera­tion in the city:
•    Central Election Commit­tee
•    Educa­tion Commit­tee
•    Auditing Commit­tee
•    Technical Commit­tee and its subcom­mit­tee for private roads and building and environ­ment issues

The compo­si­tion, tasks and autho­rity of the commit­tees are speci­fied in the admini­stra­tive rule of the city of Nurmes.

Agendas and protocols of the meetings (in Finnish)