Utilities - what is it? Department of Housing and Utilities. Quality and cost of housing and communal services

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

The housing and communal services system is one of the key economic sectors in the country. It covers a large industrial and technical complex. The demand for his services and products is always high. Let us consider further the features of housing and communal services in detail. The decoding of the abbreviation will also be indicated in the article.

General information

The housing and communal services system includes public, residential buildings, transport, operational and other facilities. All of them form a complex socio-economic complex. The state of infrastructure facilities and directly the living environment of citizens depends on the effectiveness of its activities. Utilities - what is it? It is primarily an independent economic sphere. Its key task is to meet the needs of citizens and organizations in services through which normal working and living conditions are provided.

Problems

Housing and communal services (HUS) is an area in which many pressing issues are being addressed. Many of them worsen with the onset of cold weather. In whichdirections works housing and communal services? The decoding of this abbreviation speaks for itself. The key directions of this sphere are the provision of the main resources of the population and organizations - electricity, water, heat. In some regions, the situation is rather complicated. The most acute supply problems are in the Koryak Autonomous Okrug, Magadan Region, Kamchatka, and Primorye. Only 60% of the fuel was delivered to some regions. Aging of funds is another urgent problem in housing and communal services. What is the physical deterioration of engineering communications is known in every region. All of these problems need to be addressed immediately.

Housing and communal services of the city of Moscow

Despite the fact that the capital region is considered the most prosperous in the country, it has its own actual problems. Key issues relate to the financing of housing and communal services. What is the lack of money for the industry? This is primarily a lack of operational equipment, overalls for workers, low wages. Nobody wants to work for little pay. Accordingly, the industry employs predominantly unskilled workers. According to officials, the permanent deficit at the moment is about 700 million rubles. The funds that citizens transfer in the form of rent can only cover the cost of housing and communal services. At the same time, this amount does not include the costs of maintaining and maintaining engineering and communication networks. That is why the industry operates only in emergency mode. There is simply no money for preventive measures.

Financial problems of housing and communal services

What is indebtedness for the sector in question? She isrepresents the source of a chain of non-payments that are present in almost all industries. The key reasons behind the debt plight are:

1. Multi-year underestimation of the levels of household payments by the Moscow Region in combination with budgetary insolvency. It was expressed in the discrepancy between the established standards regarding the cost of repair and maintenance of housing stock and engineering infrastructure and regional values in the formation of the budget.
2. Sequestration and non-reimbursement of funds allocated in the late 90s. to the Ministry of Construction, Housing and Communal Services of the Russian Federation.
3. Chronically increasing non-payments for actual consumption during the price adjustment period.
4. Very slow pace of installation of water and heat metering devices, restrained by the executive structures of the Ministry of Defense and organizations established by them, providing monopoly services.



5. Imperfection of the tariff scheme, systematic change in prices for fuel and energy resources.
6. High level of receivables for consumed services by organizations receiving funding from budgets.
7. The lack of contractual and economic interaction with service institutions in the Moscow Region on the basis of municipal orders in accordance with Articles 72 and 71 of the BC.

Consequences

Territorial authorities are not always able to fulfill their obligations. This has led to widespreadadministrative coercion of performers and contractors in violation of the current legislation. Significantly decreased control over the production and provision of quality services to citizens, the validity of the established tariffs. Insufficient funding explains the lack of interest in the formation of homeowners associations. The inability to fulfill budgetary obligations, the lack of transparent and effective procedures for setting and adjusting tariffs make the sector unattractive for private investors. This indicates the presence of a systemic crisis both in the industry itself as a whole and separately in the regions. The solution of the problems that have arisen is possible by applying the program-target method.

Ways out of the crisis

The main work on the formation of a problem-solving program falls on the Ministry of Construction and Housing and Communal Services of the Russian Federation. First of all, it is necessary to improve the composition and structure of financial relations within the industry with the requirements of a market economy. It should be said that some of the activities began back in 1997. So, in the late 90s, the process of transition from free or almost free provision of housing and communal services and the provision of housing to paid by citizens, in accordance with the quality, was launched. The main objectives of the events are:

1. Providing the population with living conditions that meet quality standards.
2. Reducing the costs of service organizations and, accordingly, tariffs. At the same time, the quality of the services provided should remain high.
3. The transition of the entire industry to self-sufficiency.

Sector Conversion

Having outlined the directions for reforming the housing and communal services, the government has developed the following ways to achieve its goals:

1. Improve management, control and operation structures.
2. Transition to contractual relations, development of competition, providing the end user with the opportunity to influence the quality and volume of services, the introduction of a system of competitive selection of service organizations.
3. Improving calculation schemes, setting higher rates for excess living space, differentiation of payment in accordance with the location of the object and the quality of housing.
4. Decrease with the subsequent termination of appropriations from the budget, the elimination of cross-subsidization.
5. Improving the system of social protection of citizens. It involves streamlining existing benefits, strengthening the individual focus of allocated funds.
6. Increasing tariffs to economically justified indicators, determined through the competitive selection of service organizations.

Social protection of the population

It consists in the prevention by regional bodies and structures of territorial self-government:

1. Contain the improvement of the low-income family subsidy program.
2. Unreasonable deterioration in the quality of services compared to those provided for in the contract of employment.
3. Introducing unreasonably high tariffs.

Billing

Utilitiesis considered one of the most expensive economic sectors. Heat and electricity, water, and other resources are wastefully consumed here. The housing and communal services enterprise is often not able to cover the costs with the established tariffs and norms. At the same time, the pricing policy in the sector under consideration acts as a regulatory mechanism between producers, users and the municipal budget. The latter provides financing for the most costly areas of the industry. The pricing policy should be based on a set of measures aimed at stimulating producers to reduce losses, and consumers, in turn, to the rational use of resources. Payment for services today is carried out in accordance with the tariffs. The standards are calculated at cost and established profitability. The general rules for determining these indicators are subject to the corporate interest of the manufacturer. Tariffs are set by the local administration. At the same time, housing and communal services do not provide proper control over the actual consumption of resources and cannot issue invoices for excess use. The consumer, in turn, cannot refuse to pay and allocate volumes that really should be included in the tariff and cost. The existing payment scheme, therefore, does not take into account the costs that the manufacturer actually bears, the volume of actual consumption and the loss of the product during its transportation and receipt.

Tasks of tariff regulation

Effective analysis of rationing and pricing procedures should be based on the ratio of the existing level of producers' costs and the volume of consumption of a particular resource. The existing problems are due to the imperfection of the current regulatory framework. At the same time, gaps are present at the federal, regional and local levels. The tariff regulation scheme is designed to ensure the implementation of investment and production programs approved for the coming period. Its functions include:

1. Incentives for housing and communal services to reduce costs while improving the quality of services.
2. Creating conditions for attracting investment.
3. Ensuring the formation of the required amount of financial resources.
4. Accounting for the creation of competitive relations in some sub-sectors of the housing and communal services.
5. Formation of mechanisms to reduce the politicization of pricing processes.

Method of planning, calculation and accounting

The financial department of housing and communal services must seek a compromise between the terms of reference, the need for money and the solvency of the population. The basis for determining tariffs is the Methodology for planning, calculating and accounting for tariffs. It was developed to ensure the unity of the classification and composition of costs, the calculation of costs at enterprises engaged in various types of activities in the housing and communal services sector. The regulatory framework is the Regulation, approved by government decree No. 522 of 1992-05-08, amendments to it, as well as other legal acts. Methodologyis intended for use by organizations of various types of activities: the operation of housing stock, water disposal and water supply, electricity, heat supply, sanitary cleaning of settlements, bath, hotel, laundry services, etc. The objects of calculation are services in each area of housing and communal services.

Planning

It acts as one of the key steps in determining economically sound prices. Cost planning is necessary both for natural monopolists and for those organizations that get the opportunity to conclude service contracts on a competitive basis. In the latter case, the cost is included in the tariff, which is the starting one during the event. Planned expenses for each item are set in accordance with:

1. Analysis of actual costs and their dynamics in the coming period.
2. Using regional and industry norms for cost elements.

The following groups of factors should be taken into account in the planning process:

1. Reducing the size of the cost: the use of anti-cost mechanism, resource conservation measures and so on.
2. Increasing costs: price indices that determine the degree of inflation, the introduction of technological operations that improve the quality of service.

The target cost per unit of service is determined by dividing the total estimated costs by the expected volume of in-kind services. The loss / profit from the sale is determined as the difference betweenrevenue in current prices without VAT and costs in accordance with the law (regulations).

Additional tasks

To improve the efficiency of the organization of the sector in the residential complex, it is envisaged that the management of an apartment building is designed to provide safe and favorable conditions for citizens, the proper maintenance of common property, the resolution of issues related to its use, as well as high-quality service by housing and communal services organizations. At the address of the location, the owners must choose one of the management methods:

1. Directly by the owners of the apartments.
2. HOA, a specialized consumer cooperative.
3. Managing organization.

The corresponding decision is made at the general meeting.

Conclusion

In the 90s in Russia, the population covered about 4% of the operating costs of housing and communal services. The rest of the expenses were compensated by budgetary funds. In the process of transition to a market economy, it became obvious that such a financing system was inefficient. In this regard, there is an urgent need to reform the sector. By Decree of the President No. 425, the Concept of Transformations was approved. In accordance with it, the following tasks were set:

1. Ensuring living conditions for citizens that meet standards.
2. Reducing the costs of service organizations. This, in turn, was supposed to help reduce tariffs while maintaining the quality of services.
3. Mitigation for citizens of the consequences of the transformation of payment schemespayment when the sector switches to break-even mode.

As practice has shown, the process of reforming housing and communal services at the territorial level is going quite slowly. Locally, there is a gradual increase in tariffs. By 2007, household payments covered about 80% of the industry's costs. After the transition to full payment for housing and communal services, budget obligations are provided for only a part of the costs related to the provision of benefits and subsidies. Meanwhile, the current state of the communal infrastructure remains unsatisfactory. The following problems have emerged in the industry:

1. High percentage of depreciation of fixed assets (50-70%).
2. Commercialization is rather slow.
3. The financial condition of housing and communal services organizations today does not meet the requirements of the economy.
4. High accounts payable and receivable.
5. Lack of private investment.

The development of housing and communal services is slow and difficult. Difficulties are caused primarily by the neglect of the industry, the presence of contradictions in the financial relations of the participants in the process. Experts consider it justified the decision to gradually increase tariffs for the population so that over time they reach the level established for legal entities. However, a clear protection mechanism for low-income families is needed. At the same time, experts note that the originally set deadlines for the transition to 100% payment by citizens of operating costs are not justified. Duewith high inflation, the need to strengthen social protection of the population, it is proposed to reduce the maximum allowable share of citizens' own expenses for paying for housing and communal services from 22 to 18%. At all levels of government, it is necessary to be more actively involved in solving the problems of the industry, without shifting them to the population, investors and the market.