Radio | News week in plain Finnish | Sunday 16.3.2025

Municipal elections

Finland will hold two elections next month. People will vote in municipal and regional elections on the same day, Sunday, April 13.

Many foreigners who have lived in Finland for a long enough time are also allowed to vote in both elections.

Yesterday in the news week we reported on the regional elections. Today we will tell you more about the municipal elections.

Municipal council for each municipality

Municipal elections are held in April. The elections are held in every municipality in mainland Finland. There are almost 300 of them.

Large municipalities are also called cities.

In municipal elections, a municipal council is elected for each municipality. The council members, or municipal councilors, decide on the municipality’s operations and finances.

Municipalities have many tasks

Municipal elections are important because we all use municipal services, such as schools and daycare centers, libraries, and sports facilities.

Municipalities also decide on zoning, i.e. where houses, streets and parks are built, for example. Municipalities are also responsible for water supply and public transport.

In municipal elections, voters vote for the candidate of their home municipality. Candidates are nominated by parties and voter associations.

Municipal councils are elected for 4 years.

Money from the local residents and the state

The municipal council decides what the municipality spends money on.

Residents pay municipal tax to the municipality on their salaries and pensions. The council decides each year how much municipal tax residents pay.

The municipality also receives money from the state.

The tax revenue of many municipalities has decreased because there are fewer residents than before.

Due to the decrease in population, approximately 20 percent of municipalities now elect fewer councilors in municipal elections than before.

Repetition

The topic of the news week this time was the municipal elections. Let’s recap the most important things.

Municipal elections will be held in Finland in April.

Municipal elections elect municipal councils, which decide on the municipality’s operations and financial spending.

We all use municipal services, such as schools, libraries and public transport.

Many foreigners are also allowed to vote in municipal elections.

Regional elections will be held at the same time as the municipal elections.

See you next week.