Modeling and Stratification of Sustainable Municipal Revenues (Case study: Zanjan Municipality)

Background and Purpose: Municipalities or local governments, as one of the most important public institutions, are responsible for providing services to city dwellers to meet the basic needs of life and, as a result, achieving a developed city. For this purpose, municipalities must have resources and income, because today, in addition to insufficient income sources, there is a more serious problem called the instability of municipal revenues. In developing countries such as Iran, which are characterized by inefficient economic systems, weak tax systems, and a lack of citizen participation mechanisms in financing city expenses, the revenue collection system of municipalities is mainly directed towards unstable and unhealthy revenue sources. Therefore, having a stable revenue system is an important element that leads to success in carrying out missions, so that it can respond positively to the expectations and needs of society. On the contrary, if there are no sustainable revenue sources, the financial and budgetary planning of municipalities will be in trouble. As a result of this trend, the current revenue sources will not be able to meet the increasing costs of municipalities in the coming years. Therefore, research aims to study and investigate the status of Zanjan Municipality revenues in terms of sustainability and its leveling and, it examined the revenues of Zanjan Municipality and analyzed them in terms of sustainability criteria.
Methodology: The philosophy of the study is interpretive with a qualitative approach. The research strategy is descriptive, and the main research problem is explained with the content analysis technique and the analysis system based on soft operations (de-model and interpretive structure). These two models are derived from a paired comparison questionnaire and causality analysis. After identifying the variables (revenue sources of Zanjan Municipality obtained from printed texts), the researcher developed and measured a paired comparison questionnaire. After collecting the data, the first, the definite relationships between the variables using the DEMAT method. The definite relationships obtained in this section were used for interpretive structural equations or ISM, and the most important levels of the municipality's revenue sources were identified. Finally, the most important revenue sources of Zanjan were identified. Also, the statistical population of the research includes all urban planning experts in the field of urban management (municipal employees and university professors), so 12 people were selected as a sample of the statistical population.
Findings and Discussion: The results of this research show that resources such as income from public transportation, the design of cultural spaces and exhibitions, donations and gifts, residential and land sector services, insurance fees, and citizen self-help are recognized as sustainable and essential resources in the Zanjan municipality's management system. These sources, due to their characteristics such as stability, predictability, and reliability, help the municipality to plan long-term and effective urban development. In contrast, sources such as density sales, building permits, Article 100 Commission offenses, municipal borrowing from government sources, and commercial consolidation were identified as unstable sources that cannot be used as a reliable basis for securing municipal income.
Conclusion: The results of this study can be generalized to most municipalities and urban management systems in Iran and emphasize the need to pay attention to sustainable sources of income and reduce dependence on unstable sources. This will not only help improve the financial situation of municipalities but can also increase public trust and pave the way for sustainable urban development. To secure sustainable revenue sources and manage the city efficiently, the Zanjan Municipality should focus more on sustainable resources. Increasing revenue through providing municipal services and collecting related fees, as well as municipal taxes that citizens pay for these services, can lead to increased public involvement in managing urban affairs and improving municipal performance.