As the title intimates, this title is an introduction to the study of local government finance. It is an enlightening work aimed primarily at undergraduate students studying local government and administration at universities, technikons and technical colleges. The following issues are covered: why local governments need money; the democratic tenets and principles guiding the management of local government finance; the particular roles of a council, its executive committee and the administrative authority in managing local government finance; the nature of local government property and other taxes; user charges, consumer tariffs and nominal levies as other revenue sources; features and functions of local government budgets; debt management and loans administration; inventory management; inter-governmental financial relations and external financial control.

This book was born of a demand from academics, practitioners and students for an authoritative work on the subject of financial management with a South African background and covers all aspects of finance, both at central and local government level. The approach followed is normative/descriptive, and the content is presented in a universally applicable manner.;Experts in the field will find the work indispensable, and members of municipal councils and legislative authorities, officials and members of the public who take an interest in central and local government affairs, will find it most instructive.