The sixth edition of the Survey of Basic Municipal Information (Munic 2006) investigated in cooperation with 5,564 town halls, for the first time, the topic Education, due to the growing responsibility of municipalities, specifically regarding children education in elementary instruction and youth and adult education.  The survey showed that less than one-third of the municipalities informed that the hiring of teachers was included among the five major measures in the area of education adopted by the current administration.  Less than half of the municipalities had an own system of education, with autonomy in relation to the states. The municipalities of the Southeast were responsible for 44.5% of expenses with education. North and Northeast were the most dependent in the transfers of the Fundef (Fund for the Maintenance and Development of Elementary Education and Enhancement of the Teaching Profession) and the FNDE (National Fund for the Development of Education).  The survey also showed that 52.9% of the municipalities reported to have, in 2006, plans or politics of digital inclusion, with the establishment of telecenters which, besides providing access to Internet, offered courses of computer science.

The Munic also showed that in the last years, the duties of the municipal guards, which were initially directed to the protection of the municipal patrimony, have been extended to public security, such as registering police incidents and controlling street vendors. Almost half of the municipalities gave fiscal and non-fiscal benefits with the objective of generating employment and income.  Between 2004 and 2006, the participation of persons without a formal contract in the town halls (service renders) increased from 9.4% to 19.2%.  The percentage of commissioned workers increased from 7.9% to 8.8%.

A great part of the Brazilian municipalities did not prioritize the problem of lack of teachers in public education in 2006.  Less than one-third (27.5%) of the surveyed town halls mentioned that the hiring of teachers was among the five main measures in the area of education, and only 33.3% took steps in relation to the regulation and valuing of professorship.  The majority of town halls did not give attention to investments in administrative organization and financial autonomy, reported by 25.1% and 9.9%, respectively.

The main action regarding education registered by the survey was the qualifying of teachers, adopted by 85.2% of the surveyed municipalities.  It was followed by measures aiming at the reduction of the dropping out of school (60.3%), by school assistance programs in health, feeding and didactic material (50.5%), and by improvement of school transportation (48.8%).

Six Brazilian municipalities are delegating to a department of the indirect administration the organization of education, with financial, administrative and managing autonomy. In 43.6% of the municipalities, the community participates of the decisions in relation to the school.  In the majority of the municipalities, the administration of education is conducted by the municipal secretary, and in a lower scale, by department, directory, etc. In 70.1% of the municipalities, the secretary of education is related to culture, in 47.8% to sports and in 29.6% to leisure.  In approximately one-fourth of the municipalities (26.6%), the education secretary is responsible exclusively for education.  In 12.3% of the municipalities, education is associated to tourism and in 3.8%, to social promotion. 

The administrators of education in the municipalities were mainly women (in almost three-fourths), with higher education or post-graduation (84.6%) and with age between 26 and 40 years old (more than one-third).  The administration of education by younger persons was observed mainly in the North Region, with 45.4% of the administrators of education in this category.  More than 90% of the administrators reported they had had some previous experience in the area of education.

Municipalities of the North Region were responsible for only 6.5% of the expenses with education in the country

In 2005, the Southeast was responsible for 44.5% of the total municipal expenses with education.  The Northeast Region was in second place in volume of investments, with 24.9%, followed by the South Region (16.6%). The Central West and North Regions spent the lowest expenses with education in the country, 7.4% and 6.5%, respectively.  Education consumed, in 2005, 20% of the total expenses of the municipal administration.  The major part of these resources (81%) were directed to elementary education, which is a duty of the  town halls, 14.3% to child education, 1.7% to youth and adult education, 1.1% to secondary and higher education and 0.5% to special education. 

The transfers directed to Education corresponded to 13.3% of the income collected by the municipalities. North and Northeast were more dependent on the revenues transferred, representing 19.7% and 19.6% of the total collected, while the lowest dependence was observed in the Southeast (10.2%).  Among the total of resources transferred to education in the municipalities, the Fundef answered, in 2005, for 82.5% and the FNDE, for 13.9%.

The council of school feeding and council of control and social monitoring of the Fundef, responsible for examining investments in education, can be found in more than 95% of the municipalities.  The school councils, formed by parents, alumni, teachers and staff, are legally regularized in 69.5% of the Brazilian municipalities, reaching the highest values in the Northeast (81.5%) and in the Central West (76.8%).

Less than half of the municipalities followed their own system of education

The survey shows that less than half of the Brazilian municipalities (42.7%) had their own system of education, which means they were responsible for the management of topics related to education.  In 56.4%, education was related to state systems. The South region had the major percentage of municipalities with own systems of education (40.8%).  The state of Rio de Janeiro stood out with 89.1% of the municipalities with own systems of education.  It was followed by Santa Catarina, where 79.2% of the municipalities had own systems of education, and Maranhão, with 71.4%.  On the other hand, in Rio Grande do Norte, approximately 94.6% of the municipalities had systems related to the state, followed by Paraná (87.7%), Espírito Santo (79.5%) and Tocantins (79.1%).

1.724 Brazilian municipalities had a Municipal Plan of Education, in 2006.  The plans covered in the major part of municipalities, the education of youth and adults, standing out the Northeast, where it reached 91.3% of the municipalities, being less observed in the South Region (80.7%).  The special education, the professional education and the environmental education were less covered by the plans.  

The results of the Munic show that the partnerships and the agreements with public or private entities are not widely spread in the municipalities.  For example, only 3% participated in inter-municipal partnerships of education, 2.2% of the municipalities had partnerships with international organizations and 7.7% with labor organizations.

Half of the municipalities had policies of digital inclusion

In 2006, the Munic released a new research about the existence of plans or policies of digital inclusion in the municipalities.  The survey identified that in half of them (52.9%) this situation was observed and something was done.  The concern with the digital inclusion was observed in 33 of the municipalities with more than 500 thousand inhabitants (91.7%), an index above the national average (52.9%).  Among the Major Regions, the highlight was the South Region (59.4%), followed by the Southeast (57.9%) and Central West (52.6%).  The North and Northeast had results below the national average, with 35.6% and 48.4%, respectively.  The survey also investigated the establishment of locations of digital inclusion, or telecenters¹  , essential for the development of networks.  In all the country, the municipal public system of education was the one that most had computer networks, willing to develop the digital inclusion (61.8%).  Among the town halls with plans or policies of digital inclusion, 45.7% established Telecenters and 40.7% had computers with access to internet for use of the general public.

In 2006, the public administration of almost all the municipalities of the country (99.9%) had computers.  Among these, 99.8% were own, 4.0% were ceded, 1.8% were rented and 0.1% obtained by leasing.  The equipment was available in all the 1,371 municipalities with up to five thousand inhabitants.  In the Central West all the municipalities had computers, 99.6% were own, 3.0% were ceded, 0.6% were rented and 0.2% obtained by leasing.  The number of those which were connected in a network was smaller: 82.4% connected sectors of the direct administration; 26.6% of the computers had it through intranet, and 96.8% had it through Internet.  In all the municipalities with more than 500 thousand inhabitants there were computers interconnected in a network with access to Internet and 88.9% had Intranet.  The South Region had the major percentage of municipalities which had the three resources: computers in a network connection (94.6%); with Intranet (38.2%); and with access to Internet (99.5%). Among the sectors of the municipal public administration connected in a network, Administration stood out, with 77.7%, followed by the mayor’s cabinet (53.7%), Education (25.0%), Health (48.8%) and Social Assistance (45.0%).  Only 6.5% of the municipalities reported to have the Security Area connected by network with other sectors.

Municipal guards also work in public security

The number of municipalities with municipal guard² was 786 (14.1%) in 2006, totaling 74,797 guards in all the country.  The Munic showed that, in the last years, the activities of the municipal guards have been expanded to other functions, such as aiding the public security.  Among the municipalities with municipal guard, 248 declared they made the register of police incidents; 264 made the control of street vendors; in 435 they gave assistance to the Civil Police; and in 558 they aided the Military Police, among other activities.

The existence of a municipal guard is higher as increases the population of the municipalities, ranging from 2%, in the municipalities up to 5 thousand persons, to 77.8%, in those with more than 500 thousand inhabitants. Rio de Janeiro (71.7%) and Amazonas (64.5%) were the states with the major percentages of municipalities with a municipal guard.  In eight states, less than 5% of the municipalities have this guard: Rondônia (1.3%), Tocantins (2.2%), Goiás (2.4%), Santa Catarina (3.4%) Mato Grosso (3.5%), Paraná, Minas Gerais and Rio Grande do Sul (both with 4.8%).

The number of municipal guards changed according to the size of the municipality.  71.43% of the municipalities up to five thousand inhabitants had up to ten municipal guards, while a municipal guard with more than 300 persons was recorded in 75% of the municipalities with more than 500 thousand inhabitants.  Thirteen per cent of the municipal guard in the country were women (9,744).  The great majority of the guards (92.6%) earned an initial salary up to 3 minimum salaries.  In 225 municipalities, the municipal guards earned up to one minimum salary, while in only two municipalities, one in Amazonas and another in Santa Catarina, the municipal guards earned more than five minimum salaries.  

The major part of the municipalities (72%) did not have any department of external or internal control to receive accusations of errors or abuses by the municipal guard.  The major percentage (60.71%) of municipalities with this type of control was found in those with more than 500 thousand inhabitants, while only 3.5% of the municipalities with up to five thousand inhabitants had departments controlling the municipal guard activity.

In relation to the use of guns, it could be observed that in only 127 municipalities guns were permitted (16.2%).  In the North Region, only two municipalities of Pará informed the Municipal Guard used guns.  In the Southeast it is allowed in 93 of the 299 municipalities (31.1%).  The major part is concentrated in the state of São Paulo (89 municipalities).  The rest belongs to Rio de Janeiro (2) and Espírito Santo (1), once in Minas Gerais the use of guns by guards is not allowed.  The same situation may be observed in other nine states (Amazonas, Roraima, Amapá, Tocantins, Piauí, Ceará, Alagoas and Santa Catarina).  

Automobile is the transportation vehicle mostly used by the corporation

Among the 786 municipalities which had municipal guards in 2006, 210 (26.7%) did not have any transportation vehicle for their locomotion.  In municipalities with smaller population (up to five thousand inhabitants) of the Central West (157) and North (96) there was not any transportation for the guards.  The rest (576 town halls) used the automobile (470), motorcycle (406), bicycle (123) and horse (10).

Among the regions which had transportation, the Southeast stood out with the major number of town halls (557), standing out in all the categories surveyed: automobile (267), motorcycle (204), bicycle (61) and horse (8).  This region was followed by the Northeast (314), South (140), North (124) and Central West (41).  Regarding the horse, it is only used in municipalities of the Southeast (8) and Northeast (2).

There is no training for guards in 16.7% of the municipalities 

Regarding the training or qualification of guards, in 131 municipalities of the country (16.7%) the personnel was never submitted to any training.  The major percentage of guards in this condition was in the Northeast Region (25.4%), in municipalities from 5.1 thousand to 10 thousand inhabitants (37.5%).

In the Southeast Region, only 8% did not receive any training and 71.6% participated in training activities when they entered the corporation.  In almost all the town halls with more than 500 thousand inhabitants (92.9%) there was training and qualification available for guards.  The Southeast stood out, with 71.6% of the municipalities having offered training in the occasion of the entrance of the guards.

Less than one-third of the municipalities had a security structure

In all the country, 1,203 municipalities (22.1%) declared they had a structure to deal with topics related to Public Security.   According to Munic, in 2006, the states with the major number of municipalities which had this structure were Rio de Janeiro (66.3%), Amazonas (46.8%), Alagoas (48.0%) and Pernambuco (42.7%), while Acre, Rondônia, Tocantins and Piauí had the lowest percentages, which ranged from 0% to 1.9%.  Among the municipalities which had a security structure, the larger part (48.6%) had it subordinated to the Executive government (mayor).  The others were related to several departments (35.3%) or had a department exclusively to deal with such topic (10.4%).  In 445 municipalities (8.0%), there were security municipal councils integrated by different representatives of the civil society.  Regarding the activities of the councils, 84.9% were involved with the diagnosis of problems related to violent crimes, 71.7% with the planning and elaboration of educational programs and 69.9% with the activity of interacting with the community, among others.

Municipalities offered benefits in order to generate employment and income

 Almost half of the 5,564 Brazilian municipalities granted to private companies, in 2006, some kind of fiscal or non-fiscal incentive for the establishment of enterprises, giving up collection of taxes, with the objective of generating employment and income.  The most common incentives were the cession of lands, followed by donation of lands, observed in 1,236 and 1,204 municipalities, respectively.  Exemption of Taxes on Services (764 municipalities), partial exemption of Taxes on Urban Territorial Property (747 municipalities), exemption of tributes³  (729 municipalities) and total exemption of IPTU (council tax) (722 municipalities) were among the fiscal incentives mostly granted.

The Munic showed that the municipal incentives occurred, mainly, in the South and Southeast Regions, where are located 62% of the 2,754 municipalities which adopted those mechanisms in 2006.  There was major incidence in the cities of the coast and west of Santa Catarina, especially in the frontier with Rio Grande do Sul.  This region was characterized by a type of colonization based on small communities and it had an intense process of fragmentation after the Constitution of 1988.  The survey showed, also, that in municipalities with up to 20 thousand inhabitants, less than 50.0% among them offered  advantages, while in those with more than 500 thousand inhabitants, the proportion was 86.0%.
 

The importance of IPTU (council tax) as source of revenues of Brazilian municipalities was confirmed by Munic.  The survey showed that the tax existed in 93.4% of the municipalities (5.196).  In the 313 municipalities which had from 50.001 to 100.000 inhabitants, the percentage increased to 99.0%, reaching 100.0%, in the 267 municipalities with more than 100,000 inhabitants, which means, that all of them charged IPTU.  The majority of municipalities (83.1%) have computerized files of IPTU and 67.9% have computerized files of ISS (service taxes).

The mostly charged tax among municipalities was public illumination, observed in 3,983, followed by police power, recorded in 3,077 municipalities, waste disposal (2,753) and cleaning (2,380). The fire brigade tax was charged in only 4% or 204 Brazilian municipalities.  The public illumination tax was recorded in 49% of the municipalities, in 2002, changing to 70% of the municipalities, as a consequence of having been transformed in a Norm of the Federal Constitution, through the constitutional amendment number 39, of December 19, 2002.  The survey also shows that 1.8% of the municipalities charged five taxes and only 6.3% of the municipalities did not charge any tax.   Almost half of the municipalities (49.4%) charged up to two taxes.

Labor force without permanent formal contract increased in municipalities

The municipalities hired more labor force without a permanent formal contract (service renders) and commissioned workers, confirmed the Survey of Basic Municipal Information  (Munic 2006). Considering the municipal administration as a whole (direct and indirect), 556 thousand new workers were hired from 2004 to 2006, changing from 4.52 million to 5.07 million.  From 2004 to 2006, the participation of persons without a formal contract in relation to the total workers of the direct administration changed from 9.4% to 19.2%.  The percentage of commissioned workers also increased from 7.9% to 8.8%.  In this period, the number of statutory servants (public servants) decreased from 64.3% to 60.9%, the same trend was observed with CLT servants (public servants whose employment is governed by the private sector labor code) that decreased from 18.5% to 11.1%.  The Central West showed the major percentage of commissioned workers in the country, increasing from 10.9 %, in 2004, to 11.8%, in 2006.  In second place, was the Northeast (9.7%).   The Southwest, similarly to what occurred in 2004 (6.7%) and 2005 (7.4%), maintained the lowest index in the previous year (7.7%).  Still in 2006, the North Region (8.8%) had almost the same percentage as the South (8.2%).
 

Notes:

1 - Localities with computers connected to Internet, with free use of equipment, courses of computer and special workshops.

2 - Municipal Guards or Civil Municipal Guards were created by the Federal Constitution of 1988 to protect goods, installations and property of the respective municipalities, but their duties have been extended to other activities, and in the last years they have been developing auxiliary functions in public security.

3 - According to the Article 77 of the National Tributary Code, taxes may be charged by the municipalities, states and Union, and are divided in: police power tax – relative to security, hygiene, urban and social order and authorization for the functioning of economic activities – and service rendering taxes (illumination, waste disposal, cleaning and fire brigade).  These taxes are directed to the modernization of some activity related to the municipal administration, while other tributes do not depend on a specific activity.