In accordance with the instructions of the Head of State, direct elections of mayors of rural districts have been introduced in the country. From 2021 to 2024, 2,641 akims were elected, with about 70% of them taking up this position for the first time. In total, more than 97% of rural akims have already been elected. This was announced by Vice Minister of National Economy of the Republic of Kazakhstan Bauyrzhan Omarbekov at the CCS site.

Also, according to him, the Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan and the Amanat Party, with the assistance of the Ministry, have developed a retraining program for akims of cities of regional significance, villages, towns and rural districts. The main objectives of the project are to effectively address local government issues and ensure sustainable socio-economic development by improving the professional and managerial competencies of akims. Based on the results of the training, participants will develop programs for the economic development of rural districts. Currently, 1,815 rural akims from 17 regions of the country are being trained under the program.

In addition, in order to expand the powers of rural district akims, the following measures are proposed::

- grant akims the right to hire employees within the framework of an employment contract according to the established remuneration system for civil servants;
- allow the purchase of special equipment and agricultural machinery with the right to provide paid services to the public;
- expand the powers of akims and their offices to monitor street trade, improve public places, control the use of playgrounds, provide paid services and other issues.

"These innovations will be further worked out with the deputies of the Mazhilis of Parliament," the speaker added. 

Another pressing issue, as Bauyrzhan Omarbekov noted, is the expansion of sources of income for the rural budget. Currently, the revenues of the 4 levels of the budget are generated by 8 types of tax revenues and various revenues from the district budget, fines and transfers. 

Since the introduction of income level 4, income has doubled. So, by the end of 2023, the planned budget revenues of the 4th level amounted to 308 billion tenge, but actually 320 billion tenge was received, which is 103.8% higher than the plan. 

At the same time, the Vice Minister stressed the need to increase the financial independence of rural budgets.

In this regard, it is proposed to expand the revenue sources of the rural districts budget by transferring the following revenues:

- parts of the property tax on legal entities and individual entrepreneurs;
- fees for the use of water resources;
- license fee for the right to engage in certain types of activities;
- payments for the use of licenses for certain types of activities.

In addition, as part of the new draft Budget Code, it is planned to transfer a tax on the extraction of common minerals to the Tier IV budget.

Thus, the level IV budget's own revenues are expected to increase 4 times – from 68 billion tenge to 263 billion tenge.

Work on expanding the revenue sources of rural budgets will continue.

https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/economy/press/news/details/963078?lang=ru

Source : https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/kostanai-ekonomika-zhosparlau/press/news/details/964454?lang=kk