Housing and communal services management system at the municipal level.

Kotov Dmitry Alexandrovich,

postgraduate student at the Russian University of Cooperation.

According to the laws of modern management science, the subject and object of management must be in a certain relationship. Namely, the complexity of the control subject must be comparable or more significant than the complexity of the control object. Simplifying this expression a little, we can say that a primitive control system will not be able to perform its functions in relation to a complex control object. Now let’s try to look at the municipal housing and communal services management system from an organizational and managerial point of view.

As is known, during the period of the administrative-command economy, the management structure of the housing and communal services sector was highly centralized, hierarchical in nature, and represented the following management vertical (Fig. 1).

Rice. 1.

In such an organizational structure, management was based on the dual subordination of the housing and communal services enterprise to the ministry and local authorities. The viability of the system of vertical subordination of enterprises to the Ministry of Housing and Utilities of the RSFSR was based on the right of a higher body to distribute material, technical and financial resources and the practice of coordinating the appointments of the first managers of industry enterprises and associations. Enterprises were completely deprived of independence. Their financing was carried out mainly from public consumption funds in the form of subsidies to cover losses. This organization of public utility management was consistent with the economic system existing at that time.

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The existing system was designed to regulate from the center all the main processes occurring in the housing sector, although this area was simultaneously under the jurisdiction of local Councils. Organizations providing housing and communal services did not have the necessary independence or did not have the rights of a legal entity at all, thus, for lower levels there was practically no freedom of choice in making management decisions. The largest volume of problems was solved at the first level. Centralization is confirmed by the fact that the provision of services on a monopoly basis prevailed not only in cases where the feasibility of monopolism was determined by technological conditions (in heat and water supply), but also in the sphere of housing operation, where in fact there are wide potential opportunities for competition. In the Soviet system, the position of public utilities as natural monopolies was not limited in any way.

After the collapse of the administrative-command system, almost all communal property was transferred to municipalities, and with it the responsibility for managing and providing citizens with appropriate services. Municipal authorities began to independently build a complex of housing and communal services enterprises and a system for managing them. There has been a series of bankruptcies, reorganizations of old enterprises, and the creation of new municipal unitary enterprises. New management bodies for housing and communal services enterprises were also created within municipal administrations in the form of departments, committees, and directorates. Thus, each municipality created its own housing and communal services structure and management system. N.N. Zhukov and A.V. Kozlov describe this system as follows (Fig. 2).

Rice. 2.

It should be noted that, despite all the above changes, archaic relations in the industry have largely remained. For example, the right of municipal unitary enterprises to conduct independent financial and economic activities, prescribed in legislation, is almost never implemented in real life. It is very difficult for the head of a municipal unitary enterprise to build his relationships with the administration and, possibly, with other municipal institutions (such as schools, hospitals, etc.) strictly on a contractual basis. In the current situation, the head of the municipal unitary enterprise continues to remain dependent on the will of the local administration in making decisions regarding the economic activities of the enterprise he heads. Orders of the administration regarding the economic activities of an enterprise are in fact mandatory for implementation, even if they are not formalized in an appropriate agreement and cause economic damage to the enterprise. Often housing and communal services enterprises have to perform work that will not be paid for. It is not uncommon for housing and communal services enterprises to incur significant debts due to the failure of the local budget to fulfill its obligations to utility companies and underfunding of public sector institutions and organizations. In such a situation, it is very difficult for housing and communal services enterprises to be full-fledged subjects of a market economy, since they interact with their contractors and suppliers on a contractual basis, when failure to fulfill the obligations of one of the parties is practically excluded, and the relations with the municipal administration of housing and communal services enterprises are in many ways reminiscent of the relations that existed in time of administrative command economy.

However, the diagram in Fig. 2 now no longer reflects the fullness of the organizational and economic relations that take place in the housing and communal services management system of the municipality. There have already been successful examples when a private investor is attracted to the industry, joining the system of legal ownership and management of the public utility complex on a parity basis with the administration of the municipality.

Thus, the activities of local governments in managing enterprises performing socially significant functions must be considered more broadly and comprehensively. Some authors consider the content activities of local governments as the relationship between two directions. The first is related to the implementation of economic activities through municipal enterprises (economic direction). The second is related to the obligation to regulate economic activities on the territory of the municipality (authority direction).

Business entities represented in any municipality can be divided into municipal enterprises and institutions, as well as enterprises and institutions of other forms of ownership.

According to some authors, the rights of local governments in relation to municipal enterprises should not differ from the rights of any owner in relation to the enterprise he owns. The rights to regulate the economic activities of other owners must be strictly regulated by law, since here we are talking about the use of power, and local government bodies themselves act not as an economic entity, but as a government.

The powers of local government bodies in the sphere of regulation of economic relations are not simply divided into two types, but in relation to municipal enterprises, local government bodies act both as the owner and as the authority, since in relation to generally binding norms and rules adopted by local government bodies within their competence, all enterprises, including municipal ones, are equal.

This implies the complexity of the management activities of local governments, since they act both as a subject of economic activity and as a subject endowed by law with the right to regulate this activity on its territory.

There is a point of view that some contradictions that exist in the organization of housing and communal services of a municipality can be overcome through education in the territory of municipal districts specialized or united intermunicipal economic associations in the form of closed joint-stock companies. The new control scheme may look like this (Fig. 3).

Rice. 3.

· development of general technical, financial, tariff and personnel policies; gradual equalization of the level of quality of public services for all residents of a municipal district or urban district;

· division of legislative, control and executive functions between local government bodies (legislation), CJSC "Utility Management Company" (control) and contractors (execution); building their relationships on a strict contractual basis;

· development and protection in the constituent entities of the Russian Federation of comprehensive programs for the development of housing and communal services in municipal districts or urban areas;

· more efficient and rational use of material and intellectual resources of housing and communal services in a given territory, development of intermunicipal communal cooperation;

· attracting large investments, loans guaranteed by one’s own united business or guarantees of the founders of the company;

· reduction in the number of management staff due to the liquidation of departments, directorates and committees for housing and communal services under the administrations of local self-government bodies;

· development of democratic governance institutions, equal participation of all parties involved in the project in the development and adoption of joint decisions and consolidated responsibility for their implementation, transparency and social justice.

It seems that not all of the above problems can be solved through the creation of intermunicipal economic associations. The appearance of an intermediary in the formCJSC Utility Management Company can only contribute to:

· consolidation of housing and communal services property belonging to municipalities of various levels;

· intra-industry cooperation and integration into a single technological complex.

Consolidation of housing and communal services property within one closed joint-stock company can have a positive effect in terms of increasing the creditworthiness and investment attractiveness of this enterprise.

Integration into a single technological complex can solve certain technical problems. This will also remove the issue regarding the division of property between municipalities.

However, by and large, all these are half measures. This design has many of the same characteristics as the current control system in the industry. The question remains: who will finance the replacement of enterprises' fixed assets, who will pay off their debts.

And one more dilemma. A private investor will not come to the industry if he does not have control over the objects of his investments. If a private owner controls the infrastructure of society, which is an element of its sovereignty, like the army or the monetary system, municipal authorities will not be able to directly influence the provision of services that they are obliged to provide to the population.

Thus, the way out of this problem will consist in a compromise that will allow, on the one hand, to use the laws of the market in the industry in question, and on the other hand, will not jeopardize the social rights of citizens. But the question of the existence of such a compromise still remains open.

The formation of the housing market and housing and communal services in Russia is one of the most difficult areas of socio-economic reform. Over the course of many years, the housing and communal services sector has been formed as a complex, multi-sectoral system under centralized management, covering more than 30 different types of activities. Russia, as a country with a high level of urbanization (more than 70% of the population lives in cities), has a housing stock and utility infrastructure that, in terms of scale, constitute a significant share of the national wealth, however, their condition does not correspond to the technological and economic potential of the country.

The level of provision of the population with housing and communal services (HCS) is one of the most important indicators of the quality of life in the territory of the municipality. Housing and communal services management, according to the Federal Law “On the General Principles of the Organization of Local Self-Government in the Russian Federation,” falls mainly within the competence of settlements.

Municipal management of the housing and communal services complex falls mainly within the competence of settlements. Municipal districts are entrusted with inter-settlement functions: organizing electricity and gas supply within the boundaries of the municipal district, maintaining and constructing public roads between settlements of the municipal district with the corresponding engineering structures, organizing the disposal and processing of household and industrial waste, maintaining inter-settlement burial sites and providing ritual services. services.

Housing and communal services management is the organization of maintenance and repair of housing, as well as the provision of utility services independently or under contracts with contract housing maintenance organizations.

The most important aspect in the management of housing and communal services is the principle of competitiveness, determined by the presence of competitive advantages in enterprises and organizations providing services, which should be ensured by resource-saving and innovative approaches, the development of competition and the formation of socially oriented policies, as well as the conditions that determine the quality of the management system of housing and communal services facilities.

At the present stage of development, taking into account the potential of individual sub-sectors of the housing and communal services, the typology of private and public services provided, the degree of competitive relations, the presence of various forms of ownership of property, the peculiarities of the economic mechanisms of the functioning of enterprises, housing and public utilities, having different systems, should be considered as separate spheres management and principles of their reform.

The housing sector includes residential and non-residential buildings with a network of enterprises and organizations operating and servicing them. The communal complex includes engineering systems for settlements (electricity, heat, gas, water supply and sanitation) and citywide utilities (roads, landscaping and landscaping, removal and recycling of household waste and a number of other facilities).

Reform and technological modernization of housing and communal services, increasing the competitiveness of the services provided and enterprises require the use of new, more advanced organizational, economic and information management methods, which are fundamentally different from those used until recently in the housing and communal services sector.

However, the introduction of effective forms and methods of management is complicated by the specific features of the transformation of property, economic relations and the economic mechanism of functioning of housing and communal services enterprises, aggravated by the socio-economic situation in different regions.

The crisis state of the housing and communal services complex in most municipalities of Russia has become a problem of national importance. The causes of the crisis were many years of underfunding and ineffective tariff policy, which predetermine the subsidization of the industry, high costs of providing services, the lack of economic incentives for service enterprises to reduce costs, and for recipients of housing and utility services - the ability to influence their quantity and quality, an ineffective management system, an underdeveloped competitive environment, high degree of wear and tear of fixed assets, large losses of heat energy, water and other resources.

The emergence of new types of owners is due to the need for other forms and methods of investing in the development of housing and communal services in conditions of limited budgetary funds.

At the same time, along with the dialogue “customer - contractor (housing and communal services enterprise)”, complex multilateral relationships are formed, the participants of which are:

Investment, construction and operating organizations of various forms of ownership, carrying out financing, construction, maintenance of housing and communal services and their management;
- owners of housing stock and public utilities, representing their bodies and management companies;
- consumers of services - owners, employers and tenants of residential premises, homeowners' associations, and other organizations.

It should be borne in mind that the reform of the housing and communal services is aimed at increasing the role of local governments, the independence and responsibility of business entities of various forms of ownership, providing direct service to consumers of housing and communal services and having the legal and financial capabilities not only to carry out current operational activities, but also for the development of housing and communal services.

When solving these problems, special attention should be paid to:

Carrying out by the constituent entities of the Russian Federation, local governments, the necessary reforms in the field of management, financing and pricing, aimed at ensuring more efficient functioning of the housing and communal services;
- formation of structures (customer services, management organizations, homeowners’ associations and others) representing the interests of all homeowners and protecting the rights of consumers of housing and communal services;
- introduction of contractual relations at all stages of production and provision of housing and communal services, including the owner - homeowner, service provider and their consumer;
- completion of the process of transferring departmental housing and communal services facilities into municipal ownership.

The system of municipal management of housing and communal services can be based on the rational division of functions and the organization of relationships between the owner - the homeowner, the management organization, contractors of various forms of ownership that provide maintenance to the housing stock and engineering infrastructure, and the body authorized to exercise state control over the provision of to the population of housing and communal services of the required quality, for the use and safety of the housing stock, regardless of its ownership.

When choosing a management option, it is advisable to be guided by the principle of giving the owner - the homeowner the right to decide who will maintain and manage the property he owns.

Local governments, as owners of housing and communal services, should strive to form a unified social and financial policy in the field of housing and communal services on the territory of the municipality. Contractor housing and utility organizations are responsible for compliance with regulatory and technical requirements for the maintenance and use of housing and utility facilities, for the effective use of limited financial resources while providing high-quality and reliable service to consumers, ensuring the safety of the housing stock and utility facilities.

At the municipal level, it is necessary to complete the process of delimitation and registration of ownership rights to housing and communal services. At the same time, it is recommended to transfer the right to further manage the municipal housing stock to the customer’s services.

It is advisable to divide the fixed assets of the public utilities sub-sectors into two groups. One (the so-called technological funds) includes engineering infrastructure - networks, boiler houses, pumping stations, treatment facilities and the like. The second (production assets) consists of facilities that provide service to the assets of the first group. This includes garages, workshops, industrial buildings and the like.

The owner of public utility facilities may transfer these funds for economic management or operational management to utility organizations - contractors.

Utility facilities are serviced by municipal enterprises or joint-stock companies, while the local government retains a controlling stake. When corporatizing housing and communal services enterprises, it is necessary to take into account the different procedures for privatizing the production and technological parts of fixed assets.

The starting point is that the owners are responsible for the condition of the housing stock. They formulate the procedure for managing the housing stock, enter into rental and rental agreements for housing, and finance its maintenance.

Municipal authorities in the management of housing and communal services combine administrative and economic functions, administrative resources and contractual relations. They manage and manage the housing stock, departmental and municipal utilities; ensure the operation of economic mechanisms in the housing sector and contractual relations in housing and communal services.

Local government is directly responsible for organizing:

Management of municipal residential buildings and premises (accounting for housing, transferring residential premises to non-residential premises and vice versa, coordinating the reconstruction and redevelopment of housing, declaring housing unfit for habitation, monitoring the use and safety of the housing stock);
- management of specialized housing stock, including service housing, dormitories, houses for refugees and displaced persons;
- management of common property in apartment buildings on the right of the owner of the premises;
- competitive selection of management organizations.

Organizations specializing in the field of management, among other things, carry out the rational distribution of financial resources between producers of certain housing and communal services. The owner - the homeowner can perform these functions himself or hire a specialized management organization, which can be municipal (customer service), or a third-party management organization, including a private one. The management organization, on behalf of the owner, can also collect payments, conclude contracts with contractors and monitor their implementation, as well as conclude rental agreements.

Municipal management organizations act as a customer service, another municipal institution, a diversified or specialized enterprise. The housing stock is transferred to the management of municipal unitary enterprises with the rights of economic management or to municipal institutions with the right of operational management. However, the conclusion of management contracts is not necessary.

Housing and communal services as the most important sphere of management in society

Housing and communal services are an important sphere of life of human society. Without its effective functioning, it is impossible to ensure normal living conditions. The housing and communal services system must work smoothly, constantly and taking into account the requirements of the population paying for the relevant services.

Among the most important areas of socio-economic transformation in the country, the reform and development of the housing sector, which creates the necessary conditions for human life, stands out. The leading industries within this area are housing construction and housing services, which ensure the reproduction and maintenance of the housing stock, as well as the delivery of housing and communal services to direct consumers. In Russia, the level of development of the housing sector does not meet the requirements: the tasks assigned to it are far from being fulfilled to the fullest extent, which significantly affects the decline in the quality of life of the population. In this regard, the housing problem remains one of the most pressing social problems in the country.

The housing sector is experiencing significant difficulties associated with an acute shortage of finance, a weak material and technical base, insufficient qualifications of personnel, the lack of a well-thought-out housing policy and insufficient elaboration of the regulatory and legal aspects of the activities of organizations in terms of their relationships with authorities and consumers.

The housing and communal services system is represented by residential, public buildings, operational, repair and construction, transport, energy and other enterprises that have a wide field of activity and the development of urban facilities and the state of the living environment of city residents depends on the effectiveness of their functioning.

The specificity of the housing and communal services sector lies in its versatility, diversified structure, which requires appropriate organizational, legal and economic foundations.

Housing and communal services are the most important sphere of the social structure of society. The quality of its functioning on the basis of equal existence in this area of ​​all forms of ownership makes it possible to create a field of quality of economic relations between owners of housing and communal services and create a network environment for the implementation of the principles of a socially oriented market economy.

The city's housing and communal services are an independent sphere in the national economic system, the main purpose of which is to meet the needs of the population and enterprises for services that ensure normal living and working conditions.

In accordance with the subject area of ​​research, services are purposeful human activities, the result of which has a beneficial effect that satisfies any human needs.

The ability to satisfy human needs is called utility. The Austrian school of value theory emphasizes that utility is always subjective. Everything that has utility is usually called good (material and intangible carriers of utility that serve to satisfy needs). Housing and communal services are types of activities, housing and communal services, in the process of which a new, previously non-existent product is not created, but the quality of an existing, created product changes.

These are benefits provided not in the form of things, but in the form of the state of functioning of the housing and communal services.

The need for housing and communal services increases under the influence of labor intensity, with the need to improve the quality of human capital, the law of increasing needs.

Under the influence of the objective law of increasing needs, the population's needs for improving housing conditions develop. The share of housing expenses in the family budget is constantly increasing.

The process of production and consumption of most housing and communal services coincides in production-time coordinates. In the housing and communal services market, equality of supply and demand in terms of the volume and structure of services provided must be maintained at all times. At the same time, the production of housing and communal services must be preceded by a social order in individual, collective or public forms, acting as an act of their social recognition and a guarantor of the exchange of labor.

From the above, we can conclude that housing and communal services occupy an important place in the sphere of municipal management of society, since without its functioning it is impossible to ensure normal living conditions for the population.

The housing and communal services system occupies a special place in the development of the Russian economy, forming the life-supporting basis of municipalities and implementing social functions in the process of economic activity of its economic entities. But the housing and communal services sector is a non-productive sector of the economy, in the market conditions of which it is difficult to achieve a balance between economic utility and social necessity, and market and administrative approaches come into conflict especially sharply; to improve the efficiency of this sector, the implementation of a huge complex of technical, economic and

Utilities are a set of enterprises, services and farms serving the population of cities, towns and villages; in cities it is part of the urban economy. In many cities and towns, public utility companies also serve industrial enterprises, supplying them with water, electricity, and gas. However, depending on local conditions, industrial enterprises also have their own water supply, sewerage, and other public utility facilities.

The composition of the public utilities sector is presented in Figure 1.

Rice. 1.

The current state of the housing and communal services sector of the Russian Federation can generally be characterized as a crisis. This situation is aggravated by the fact that the crisis in the housing and communal services sector is of a long-standing nature. The government of the Russian Federation is considering various measures to solve this problem, but none of them can provide a way out of the crisis for the industry. As practice shows, the housing and communal services of the Russian Federation in its current state requires a whole range of measures to improve and restore it. An unsatisfactory financial situation, lack of incentives to reduce costs and a competitive environment, depreciation of fixed assets - these are just some of the problems of the Russian housing and communal services sector. It should be noted that currently most enterprises in the housing and communal services complex are municipal, which greatly complicates any modernization. However, the Government of the Russian Federation plans to demonopolize the industry in the near future and introduce a large number of private enterprises into it. Thus, when developing the concept of modernization of housing and communal services, one should take this fact into account and focus on possible changes in the industry.

The main objectives of the ongoing modernization of housing and communal services are:

• - improving the quality of housing and communal services provided to the population;
• - attracting private investment into the industry;
• - reduction of costs for the production of housing and communal services;
• - increasing the sustainability of the industry.

The adopted Strategy for the development of housing and communal services

The Russian Federation provides for an almost complete rejection of subsidies from budgets at all levels. This fact excludes several scenarios for the modernization of the industry: soon housing and utility companies will be able to rely only on their own financial resources, as well as private investments. Housing and communal services are currently an industry that is practically unattractive for private investors. First of all, this is due to the uncertainty of the process of investing in industry enterprises.

The only source of income for housing and communal services enterprises is payment for services provided and work performed. The amount of this fee depends entirely on the tariff set for a particular tariff or service. Thus, it is possible to influence the overall financial condition of the industry by implementing competent tariff regulation. Modernizing the tariff regulation system will make it possible to restructure the debts incurred by enterprises and redirect their irrational expenses. Tariffs set for both housing and utility services must be flexible and predictable. They must be urgent, consistent with the period of tariff regulation at the federal and local levels. The traditional tariff policy that has developed in the Russian Federation in conditions of crisis and budget deficit does not meet the above requirements. The main task solved by the state through tariff regulation in the housing and communal services sector was to mitigate the consequences of the economic recession for both the population and the public sector. The main tool used at that time within the housing and communal services sector was cross-subsidization: the tariff burden was redistributed from the population and the budget to the most stable commercial sectors. At that time, the population paid for the housing and utility services provided to them only partially, while enterprises paid for them in full and at an inflated rate.

As mentioned earlier, housing and utility tariff setting in modern Russian society should be balanced. This means that in the process of setting tariffs for housing utilities, the interests of all participants in the emerging economic relations must be taken into account, namely:

• - service providers;
• - consumers of services;
• - authorities;
• - investors.

Today, in order to ensure an effective management system for housing and communal services at the municipal level, the tasks of introducing competitive relations, developing the initiative of homeowners, and creating conditions for managing apartment buildings are being solved. The development of competitive relations and private initiative in the housing and communal services complex of the municipality is, in particular, facilitated by an increase in budget funding in terms of renovation and reconstruction of fixed assets.

Until recently, there was no public services market in the Russian economy. The introduction of the Housing Code became a real impetus for the functioning of various management companies in apartment buildings, that is, it contributed to the emergence of entrepreneurship in the housing sector.

The housing and communal services management system is a single mechanism, each element of which performs its intended function, interconnected with the functions of other elements.

The structure of the management mechanism in housing and communal services at the municipal level includes:

• - formation of effective relationships in the housing and communal services sector between subjects and objects at the municipal level, as well as understanding the essence of economic relations of participants in the housing and communal services sector through the prism of interaction and implementation of human economic needs and interests;
• - determination of the principles of municipal housing and communal services management. These include: the principle of initiative and independence; administrative centralization; structure and interconnection; priority tasks and directions; investment attractiveness; equal social protection and justice; mutual trust and responsibility; innovation and modernization; scientific character;
• - determination of the specifics of municipal housing and communal services management, based on quantitative and qualitative indicators;
• - determination of the features of municipal housing and communal services management, which are formed under the influence of factors of both endogenous and exogenous nature;
• - determination of methods of municipal housing and communal services management. General: administrative and administrative, economic, socio-psychological, innovative. Private;
• - formation of the function of municipal housing and communal services management.

General functions can be represented as: planning, organization, motivation, coordination and control. Private functions include direct coordinated management of a specific enterprise or a group of enterprises of a similar nature. The specifics of private functions are determined by a set of factors: economic, production, social, geographical, demographic, environmental.

The control mechanism is the conductor of any management decisions. The result of the economic behavior of a particular person, group of people, organization, society entirely depends on it. The reform of such a complex system as housing and communal services cannot be successfully implemented without fundamental changes in the management system of the housing stock and its infrastructure. The management mechanism in housing and communal services largely depends on strengthening the role of local government and the broad involvement of the population in the decision-making process.

The widespread use of the system of delegated management in the municipality has led to modernization and increased efficiency in the use of life support facilities for the population, saving resources, and further refinancing of funds allocated to finance housing and communal services. After the end of the concession agreement, the municipality will receive a modernized infrastructure while reducing the cost of supplied resources and improving the quality of services.

The quality of functioning of housing and communal services, which is the most important sphere of the social structure of society, can create a favorable environment for the implementation of the principles of a socially oriented market economy.

The degree of development and volume of public utilities activities directly affect the level of well-being of the population, their living conditions, sanitary and hygienic conditions and the cleanliness of water and air basins, as well as the level of labor productivity.

The uninterrupted functioning of life support systems for the population is the main priority in the field of housing and communal services.

Bibliography:

• 1. “Housing Code of the Russian Federation” dated December 29, 2004 No. 188-FZ (as amended on December 28, 2016) (as amended and supplemented, entered into force on January 1, 2017);
• 2. Bokareva E.V., Zhuravleva N.V., Glinkina E.V., Abrameytseva E.A., Biryukov A.N., Kozhukhova O.S., Krutova I.N., Khusainova L.A., Chernov S.S. Problems of economics and management of enterprises, industries, complexes Novosibirsk, 2011. Volume Book 15
• 3. Zudenkova S.A. State and development trends of the housing market in the Moscow agglomeration. In the collection: Current problems and prospects for the development of state and municipal management. Collection of scientific articles of the IV International Scientific and Practical Conference. 2017. p. 141-143.
• 4. Zudenkova S.A. Features of the development of competition in housing and communal services //Service in Russia and abroad. 2009. No. 1 (11). With. 69-74.
• 5. Rodionov D.G., Khavanova N.V., Lyazina O.A. Monitoring the development of corporate social responsibility in the region Journal of Legal and Economic Research. 2007. No. 1. pp. 115-122.
• 6. Stadolin M.E., Zudenkova S.A. Development of a modern management system for housing and improvement of the territory of Moscow districts // Bulletin of the University (State University of Management). 2015. No. 1. With. 66-69.
• 7. Khavanova N.V., Bokareva E.V. Evolution of the system of providing services to support small businesses at the municipal level Service in Russia and abroad. 2015. T. 9. No. 3 (59). pp. 33-39.
• 8. Khavanova N.V., Litvinova E.V. Ways to increase the efficiency of debt collection from citizens for services in the field of housing and communal services Service in Russia and abroad. 2015. T. 9. No. 3 (59). pp. 181-194.
• 9. Morozova L.S., Khavanova N.V., Simonin P.V., Litvinova E.V. Institutional particularities of development of socio-labour relations and life level in the Russian federation Life Science Journal. 2014. T. 11. No. 4. pp. 460-463.

Along with other forms of housing and communal services management at the municipal level, a homeowners' association can be distinguished. An HOA is created for the purpose of joint and most efficient management of an apartment building by homeowners.

An HOA is a non-profit organization, an association of owners of premises (apartments and non-residential) for the joint management of an apartment building and resolving issues of ownership, use and disposal of common property.

The Housing Code of the Russian Federation determines the goals of creating an HOA:

• - joint management of common property in an apartment building;
• - ensuring the operation of common property in an apartment building;
• - possession, use and, within the limits established by law, disposal of common property in an apartment building.

The concept of “management of an apartment building” is interpreted by housing legislation in a broader sense than just the management of common property in such a building. This is due to the fact that residential premises in an apartment building, in addition to living, are also intended to satisfy citizens’ household and other needs related to their residence.

In a generalized form, housing management should be understood as the performance of legal actions by the subject of management in relation to the object of management. From the point of view of property rights, the object of management is the common property, since the owner manages the premises independently. The common property in an apartment building is in the common shared ownership of all owners of the premises.

The owners of premises have: the right of ownership (the ability to actually possess residential premises based on law or contract); right of use (the ability to operate and use residential premises by extracting useful properties from it); right of disposal (the ability to determine the legal fate of residential premises).

The owner has the right, at his own discretion, to take any actions in relation to his property that do not contradict the law and other legal acts and do not violate the rights and legally protected interests of other persons, including alienating his property into the ownership of other persons, transferring to them, while remaining the owner, the rights possession, use and disposal of property, pledge property and encumber it in other ways, dispose of it in any other way.

Owners manage residential and non-residential premises independently, and to manage common property in an apartment building they must choose one of the management methods.

In accordance with the state 161 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, the management of an apartment building must ensure:

• - favorable and safe living conditions for citizens;
• - proper maintenance of common property in an apartment building;
• - resolving issues regarding the use of common property in an apartment building;
• - provision of utilities to citizens living in such a house.

Essentially, these are the main goals of management, on the basis of which criteria for assessing the activities of the management organization should be formed.

The implementation of housing legislation in matters of management of apartment buildings involves:

• 1) creation of market relations in the provision of housing and communal services;
• 2) removing the management of apartment buildings from administrative influence;
• 3) demonopolization in the field of management and creation of competition;
• 4) attracting professional managers to the management sphere;
• 5) achieving a reasonable socio-political balance between the interests of the population and state and municipal authorities;
• 6) primary satisfaction of the interests of the population in matters of financing the maintenance of their own housing: the interests of the owners and their financial capabilities are combined;
• 7) increasing demand for resource-saving technologies;
• 8) increasing the level of service to the population: achieved by balancing financial relations between consumers and service organizations, as well as improving control over the fulfillment of obligations under concluded contracts; Payment is expected only upon completion of work.

Management of an apartment building is, first of all, the activity of the owners of premises in an apartment building, aimed at extracting useful properties from the property they own. Thus, the owner of a residential premises, acquiring ownership rights to a residential premises in the form of an apartment, had the intention of subsequently using this premises for his own permanent residence, as well as for the residence of his family members.

A homeowners' association (HOA) is a membership-based non-profit organization, a voluntary association of owners of premises in an apartment building, for the joint management of a complex of real estate in an apartment building (common property), ensuring the operation of this complex, ownership, use and within the limits of disposal established by the legislation of the Russian Federation common property in an apartment building.

HOA life cycle:

1) Creation of a HOA

Preparation of a package of documents for organizing and holding a general meeting of owners

Holding a general meeting of owners

Obtaining from the authorities the documents necessary to calculate the share of premises owners:

• 1. Registration with the Ministry of Justice Federal Reserve
• 2. Registration with funds (PFR, MGFFOMS)
• 3. Assignment of Goskomstat codes
• 4. Making a seal
• 5. Opening a bank account
• 6. Notification of the Tax Inspectorate about the opening of a current account
• 2) Creation of a HOA association
• 3) Liquidation of the HOA

To create an HOA, you must provide the following documents:

• a) name of the Partnership;
• b) copies of passports of all members of the Partnership
• c) copies of the certificate of ownership of all members of the Partnership
• d) Technical passport of the house
• e) documents for the legal address (if any)
• e) the name of the bank in which the account will be opened

The HOA has special legal capacity. It has the right to engage only in those types of activities that are specified in its charter and correspond to the purposes for which it was created. The content and scope of the legal capacity of the HOA is determined by law and the charter of this organization. When creating a homeowners' association, the owners of the premises independently determine the list of powers of such a partnership.

The legal capacity of a homeowners' association - the ability to have civil rights corresponding to the goals of its activities provided for in its constituent documents, and to bear the responsibilities associated with these activities - arises from the moment of its creation.

The presence of the goals of activity provided for in the charter of the partnership is a mandatory condition for its legal existence. A transaction made by a partnership not in accordance with the goals of its activities may be declared invalid by the court (extra-charter transaction).

The HOA is considered created from the date of making the corresponding entry in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities (state registration). State registration of HOAs is carried out in accordance with Federal Law dated 08.08.01 No. 129-FZ “On State Registration of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs”.

In accordance with the Decree of the Government of the Russian Federation of September 30, 2004 No. 506 “On approval of the Regulations on the Federal Tax Service”, the Federal Tax Service is now an authorized federal executive body carrying out state registration of legal entities, individuals as individual entrepreneurs and peasant (farmer) farms.

From the moment the HOA is created, it may have civil rights corresponding to the goals of its activities provided for in its charter, and bear responsibilities associated with these activities. As a legal entity, it must have governing bodies, an independent balance sheet, current and other bank accounts, a seal with its name and other characteristics of a legal entity. The HOA is liable for its obligations with all the property it owns, but is not liable for the obligations of the members of the partnership, including the payment of mandatory payments by HOA members: fees for services and work on managing an apartment building, maintenance, current and major repairs of common property, as well as fees for utilities.

The Housing Code establishes the rights of the partnership within the limits within which it can carry out its statutory activities. The homeowners association has the right to:

• - conclude, in accordance with the law, an agreement for the management of an apartment building, as well as agreements on the maintenance and repair of common property in an apartment building, agreements on the provision of utility services and other agreements in the interests of members of the partnership
• - determine the estimate of income and expenses of the HOA for the year
• - establish, on the basis of the adopted estimate of income and expenses for the year of the HOA, the amounts of payments and contributions for each owner of the premises in an apartment building in accordance with his share in the right of common ownership of the common property in the apartment building, as well as the amount of membership fees;
• - prepare proposals for owners for major repairs of common property in an apartment building, as well as calculate the costs of its implementation;
• - perform work for the owners of premises in an apartment building and provide them with services within the framework of statutory activities;
• - use loans provided by banks in the manner and under the conditions provided for by the legislation of the Russian Federation;
• - transfer material and monetary resources under the agreement to persons performing work for the HOA and providing services to the HOA;
• - sell and transfer for temporary use, exchange property belonging to the HOA.

The homeowners association is obliged to:

• 1) ensure compliance with the requirements of Ch. 13 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, provisions of other federal laws, other regulatory legal acts, as well as the charter of the partnership;
• 2) enter into agreements on the maintenance and repair of common property in an apartment building with the owners of premises in the apartment building who are not members of the partnership. Owners of premises, creating a homeowners' association, give the latter the rights of ownership, use and, within the limits established by law, disposal of common property in an apartment building. Those owners of premises who refused to join the partnership enter into an agreement with it on the maintenance and repair of common property in an apartment building. The Housing Code does not contain classifying features of such an agreement. But this agreement is definitely not an agreement for the provision of services and work on the maintenance and routine repairs of common property. An agreement with the owners of premises in an apartment building who are not members of the partnership is concluded for the purpose of transferring their powers to the partnership for the latter to exercise its rights, establishing the amount of mandatory payments, the deadline and procedure for making payments for residential premises and utilities, conditions for recalculating payments, etc.;
• 3) fulfill obligations under the contract in the manner prescribed by law;
• 4) ensure proper sanitary and technical condition of common property in an apartment building. The concept of “provide” is also not classified, therefore this concept must be disclosed in the charter of the partnership.
• 5) ensure that all owners of premises in an apartment building fulfill their obligations for the maintenance and repair of common property in an apartment building in accordance with their shares in the right of common ownership of this property.
• 6) ensure compliance with the rights and legitimate interests of the owners of premises in an apartment building when establishing the conditions and procedure for the ownership, use and disposal of common property.
• - for reconstruction of an apartment building, construction of outbuildings and other buildings, structures, structures, repair of common property in an apartment building;
• - to establish limits for the use of the land plot on which the apartment building is located, including the introduction of restrictions on its use;
• 7) take measures necessary to prevent or terminate actions of third parties that impede or interfere with the exercise of the rights of ownership, use and, within the limits established by law, of the owners of premises with common property in an apartment building.
• 8) represent the legitimate interests of the owners of premises in an apartment building, including in relations with third parties.

Joint management of common property, ownership, use and, within the limits established by law, disposal of common property in an apartment building is carried out by making decisions by members of the partnership at a general meeting of members of the HOA.

The HOA owns, uses and, within the limits established by law, disposes of the common property in an apartment building subject to the authority of the owners of the premises. The partnership is vested with such powers at the time of its creation, and in existing partnerships - by introducing amendments and additions to the charter of the partnership. TOK acquires powers for joint management of common property, ownership, use and, within the limits established by law, disposal of common property in an apartment building from non-members of the partnership by concluding an agreement with them on the maintenance and repair of common property.

Ensuring the operation of common property should be understood as the actions of the partnership aimed at selecting management, service and contracting organizations, concluding agreements with them, exercising control over the fulfillment of their duties by these organizations in the interests of HOA members and owners of premises in an apartment building, maintaining accounting and technical documentation for apartment building, planning the volume of work and services for the maintenance, current and major repairs of common property, establishing facts of non-performance of work and failure to provide services, as well as performing other functions provided for by the charter of the partnership.

A homeowners' association is created without a limitation on the period of activity, unless otherwise provided by the charter of the association. The main purpose of the HOA is not related to making a profit. It is, first of all, an association of owners of premises in an apartment building, created for the joint management of common property in such a building, as well as to ensure its operation.

The Partnership can provide services and perform work for owners of premises to improve their living conditions (consulting services, Internet services, communications, representation services, redecoration of premises, receiving and sending correspondence and other types of activities not prohibited by the legislation of the Russian Federation, aimed at achieving the specified charter of goals).

Members of the HOA are not liable for the obligations of the partnership. The decision to create a HOA and approve its charter is made at a general meeting of owners of premises in an apartment building (the joint presence of owners of premises in a given building to discuss issues on the agenda and make decisions on issues put to vote) or through absentee voting - transfer to the place or to the address indicated in the notice of a general meeting of owners of premises in an apartment building, in writing, decisions of the owners on issues put to vote.

The decision of the general meeting of premises owners on the creation of a homeowners' association and on the adoption of the charter is valid if it is voted for by the owners of premises in the corresponding apartment building, who have more than fifty percent of the votes of the total number of votes of the owners of premises in such a building.

Consequently, the number of HOA members who created the partnership must exceed 50% of the votes of the total number of votes of the owners of premises in the apartment building. The general meeting of owners of premises in an apartment building is obliged to make a decision on the liquidation of the HOA if the members of the partnership do not have more than 50% of the votes of the total number of votes of the owners of premises in the apartment building.

The liquidation of an HOA is carried out in accordance with the general procedure established by the Civil Code of the Russian Federation and the Federal Law “On State Registration of Legal Entities and Individual Entrepreneurs”.

A homeowners' association can be liquidated by a court decision only on the grounds specified in the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, that is:

• - in case of gross violations of the law committed during its creation, if these violations are of an irreparable nature (i.e. when their correction in relation to the circumstances of a particular case is impossible);
• - carrying out activities without proper permission (license);
• - carrying out activities prohibited by law, or with other repeated or gross violations of the law or other legal acts.

The decision to liquidate the HOA can be made by the general meeting of members of the partnership. The General Meeting appoints a liquidation commission, to which the powers of the HOA board are transferred. That is, from the moment the liquidation commission is appointed, the functions and rights of the HOA board are transferred to it. The task of the liquidation commission is to complete the activities of the HOA. Therefore, the board ceases its activities and is obliged to fully obey the decisions of the liquidation commission.

The object of management of a homeowners' association can be not only an apartment building, but also several houses that are united by a single land plot, adjacent land plots or other common property (engineering communications).

Moreover, this common property should be intended to serve only these few houses.

The resolution of issues of succession in relation to specific rights and obligations of a legal entity during its reorganization is associated with a transfer act or separation balance sheet, which are approved by the participants of the HOA or the body that made the decision on the reorganization of legal entities.

During a merger, annexation and transformation, the entire set of rights and obligations of the reorganized legal entities passes to one legal successor - the newly created legal entity in accordance with the transfer deed.

A homeowners' association created in an apartment building can take over such a building for management if the general meeting of premises owners has made an appropriate decision on the choice of management method - management of the homeowners' association.

The very fact of creating a partnership is not the basis for transferring the house to this partnership for management.

A homeowners' association acquires civil rights and assumes civil responsibilities through its governing bodies, acting in accordance with the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, the Civil Code of the Russian Federation, other legal acts and the charter.

The governing bodies of the HOA are:

• 1) general meeting of members of the homeowners association;
• 2) the board of directors of the partnership.

The governing bodies of a homeowners' association are collegial entities and differ in their set of powers.

The governing bodies of an HOA can only include members of such a partnership. The general meeting of HOA members has the right to resolve any issues that fall within the competence of the association’s board.

The list of issues falling within the competence of the general meeting of members of the partnership is open and can be expanded by the charter of the HOA.

The significance of issues within the competence of the general meeting of members of the partnership is determined by the number of votes required for their adoption.

Conventionally, issues within the competence of the general meeting can be divided into two blocks according to importance:

• 1) issues on which decisions are made by at least two-thirds of the votes of the total number of votes of the members of the partnership:
  • - making decisions on the reorganization and liquidation of the partnership;
  • - making decisions on obtaining borrowed funds, including bank loans;
  • - determination of directions for using income from the economic activities of the partnership;
  • - making decisions on leasing or transferring other rights to common property in an apartment building;
• 2) issues on which decisions are made by a majority vote of the total number of votes of the members of the partnership or their representatives present at the general meeting:
  • - election of the board and audit commission (auditor) of the partnership;
  • - establishing the amount of mandatory payments and contributions of members of the partnership;
  • - formation of special funds of the partnership, including a reserve fund, a fund for the restoration and repair of common property in an apartment building and its equipment;
  • - amendments to the charter of the partnership;
  • - approval of the annual plan on the financial activities of the partnership and a report on the implementation of such a plan;
  • - consideration of complaints against the actions of the board of the partnership, the chairman of the board of the partnership and the audit commission (auditor) of the partnership;
  • - adoption and amendment, upon the proposal of the chairman of the board of the partnership, of the internal regulations of the partnership in relation to employees whose responsibilities include servicing an apartment building, provisions on remuneration for their labor;
  • - determining the amount of remuneration for members of the board of directors of the partnership;
  • - other issues provided for by the Housing Code or other federal laws.

The HOA board is the executive body of the partnership, reporting to the general meeting of members of the partnership. The board of the partnership is elected from among its members by the general meeting. The decision on the composition of the board of directors of the partnership is made by a majority vote of the total number of votes of the members of the partnership or their representatives present at the general meeting if a quorum of such meeting is present.

It is advisable to choose an odd number of board members of the partnership.

The board of the homeowners association manages the day-to-day activities of the homeowners association.

The board of the partnership is obliged to:

• - the partnership must comply with the legislation and the requirements of the partnership’s charter;
• - elect the chairman of the board of the partnership;
• - exercise control over the timely payment by members of the partnership of established mandatory payments and contributions. This is ensured by reconciling the financial obligations of a member of the partnership established in the card (personal account) of the member of the partnership with receipts paid by him;
• - draw up an estimate of income and expenses for the corresponding year of the partnership and a report on financial activities and submit them to the general meeting of members of the partnership for approval;
• - manage an apartment building or enter into contracts for its management;
• - hire workers to service an apartment building and fire them. When hiring workers and employees, as well as their dismissal, the board of the partnership is obliged to comply with the norms of the Labor Code of the Russian Federation;
• - enter into contracts for the maintenance, operation and repair of common property in an apartment building;
• - maintain lists of partnership members, record keeping, accounting and financial reporting;
• - convene and hold a general meeting of members of the partnership;
• - manage the funds of the partnership;
• - perform other duties arising from the charter of the homeowners association.

The board of a homeowners' association has the right to make decisions on all issues of the association's activities, except for issues falling within the exclusive competence of the general meeting of owners of premises in an apartment building and the competence of the general meeting of members of the homeowners' association. The term of office of the HOA board is established by the charter of the partnership, but not more than two years.

It is necessary to include a provision in the HOA charter on the procedure for making decisions at a meeting of the board of the association. At a meeting of the board members, a decision must be made if a majority of the board members vote for it.

The decision of the HOA board is documented in a protocol, which is kept by the board of the homeowners association indefinitely. The minutes are signed by the chairman and secretary of the board of the partnership. Minutes of board meetings are kept consecutively numbered, bound and sealed.

The chairman of the board of the HOA is elected by the board of the partnership from among its members for a period determined by its charter, but not more than two years, since the chairman of the board of the partnership is a member of the board of such a partnership, and the term of office of the board cannot exceed two years. The chairman of the board of a partnership cannot be a non-member of the partnership or a person acting under a power of attorney from a member of the partnership. The election of the chairman of the board can also be carried out at a general meeting of members of the partnership, but in this case only the general meeting of members of the partnership can terminate his powers early. The chairman of the HOA board can exercise his powers on a voluntary basis or on a professional basis. In the latter case, the HOA board enters into an employment contract with him. The chairman of the board of a homeowners association has the following powers:

• - ensures implementation of board decisions;
• - gives instructions and orders to all officials of the partnership, the execution of which is mandatory for these persons;
• - acts without a power of attorney on behalf of the partnership;
• - signs payment documents and makes transactions that, in accordance with the law, the charter of the partnership, do not require mandatory approval by the board of the partnership or the general meeting of members of the partnership;
• - develops and submits for approval to the general meeting of members of the partnership the internal regulations of the partnership in relation to employees.

By decision of the general meeting of members of the partnership, an auditor may be elected instead of the audit commission. The audit commission, elected in number of more than two people, is obliged to select a chairman from among its members. The election of the chairman of the audit commission is documented in a protocol, which is kept in the records management of the homeowners association.

For each general meeting of HOA members, the audit commission (auditor) submits a conclusion on the estimate of income and expenses for the corresponding year of the partnership and a report on financial activities and the amount of mandatory payments and contributions, and also reports on its activities.

The Audit Commission (auditor) must carry out scheduled audits of the financial and economic activities of the homeowners’ association at least once a year, and also has the right to conduct unscheduled audits, unless otherwise specified in the charter.

The sources from which the funds of the homeowners association are formed consist of:

• - obligatory payments, entrance and other contributions of members of the partnership.
• - income from the economic activities of the partnership
• - subsidies for ensuring the operation of common property in an apartment building, carrying out current and major repairs, providing certain types of utilities and other subsidies, if these funds are provided for by law;
• - other income.

An HOA has the right to engage in entrepreneurial activities only insofar as it serves to achieve the goals for which it was created.

Any owner of premises (residential and non-residential) in an apartment building can be a member of the HOA.

Becoming a member of a HOA is possible upon establishment of such a partnership or by submitting an application.

The owner of premises in an apartment building becomes a member of the partnership from the moment an application is submitted to the board of the partnership.

Membership in the HOA is terminated from the moment of filing an application to leave the partnership members or from the moment the partnership member’s ownership rights to premises in an apartment building are terminated.

Termination of the ownership rights of a HOA member to premises in an apartment building is possible in the following cases:

• - By the tribunal's decision;
• - upon alienation of premises;
• - in case of loss or destruction of the premises;
• - upon abandonment of property.

Due to the fact that premises in an apartment building may belong to several owners in shared ownership, each participant in shared ownership has the right to become a member of the HOA.

A member of the partnership has the right:

• - independently dispose of the premises belonging to him;
• - participate in the general meeting of members of the partnership and vote in person or through a representative authorized by a power of attorney;
• - elect and be elected to the management bodies of the partnership and its control body;
• - receive information about the activities of the management bodies of the partnership, both independently and through its control bodies;
• - voluntarily resign from the membership of the partnership;
• - appeal to the court the decision of the general meeting of members of the partnership or the decision of the board of the partnership, which do not comply with the legislation of the Russian Federation and violate its rights and interests protected by law;
• - make proposals to improve the activities of the partnership, eliminate shortcomings in the work of its bodies;
• - carry out business activities in premises owned by him in compliance with the requirements of the legislation of the Russian Federation, sanitary, fire safety and other rules and regulations;
• - instruct the partnership to enter into paid agreements with third parties in its interests and at its expense, as well as, on its instructions, to make payments under concluded agreements;
• - exercise other rights not prohibited by the legislation of the Russian Federation.

A member of the partnership is obliged:

• - take care of the common property of an apartment building, landscaping facilities in the local area and green spaces;
• - maintain the premises belonging to him in proper condition, preventing mismanagement of it, respect the rights and legitimate interests of neighbors, rules for the use of residential premises, maintenance of a residential building and local area, rules for the maintenance of common property;
• - use the premises belonging to him in accordance with its intended purpose;
• - fulfill the requirements of the charter, decisions of the general meeting of members of the partnership, the board of the partnership;
• - do not violate the rights of other owners;
• - bear the burden of maintaining the owned premises, common property;
• - timely pay membership fees, taxes and mandatory payments: fees for living quarters and utilities;
• - promptly notify the partnership or the management organization (manager) authorized by it about your temporary absence from your place of residence, as well as about the number of citizens actually living in its premises or working in it;
• - at his own expense, carry out the maintenance and repair of the premises belonging to him and the equipment located inside it, which is not related to common property;
• - allow into the premises officials of the partnership, management organization (manager), enterprises and organizations that have the right to carry out work on electrical, heat, gas, water supply and sewerage installations to carry out preventive maintenance, eliminate accidents, inspect engineering equipment, metering devices and control;
• - participate in events held by the partnership;
• - participate in general meetings of members of the partnership;
• - take the necessary measures to prevent damage to common property;
• - comply with other requirements established by the general meeting of members of the partnership.

The city of Moscow is pursuing a policy of creating conditions for the organization and effective operation of homeowners' associations (HOAs), as a way of managing an apartment building that most fully realizes the rights and responsibilities of premises owners to manage such a building.

The decision to create an HOA is made by the owners of premises in an apartment building at their general meeting.

In the Lyublino area, work on the creation of a HOA has been underway since 2007. The work was carried out in accordance with the following regulatory documents:

• - Decree of the Moscow Government of May 22, 2007 No. 398-PP “On the program for the support and development of homeowners’ associations, housing and housing-construction cooperatives in the city of Moscow for 2007-2009 and tasks for 2010”,
• - Order of the prefect of the South-Eastern Administrative District dated 08/07/2007 No. 1635 “On approval of the Address List of residential buildings where there are prerequisites for the creation of homeowners’ associations in 2007”;
• - Regulations for the interaction of the State Unitary Enterprise “Center for Assistance in the Management of Apartment Buildings and Certification of Premises” and

territorial executive authorities for the implementation of the Program for the support and development of homeowners' associations, housing and housing-construction cooperatives in the city of Moscow for 2007-2009.

Within the framework of these Regulations, the district government organized outreach work with residents of houses included in the program for creating a HOA. The work was carried out through meetings with initiative groups of residents, at meetings with elders in houses, by posting and constantly updating information on bulletin boards in houses, posting articles in the newspaper “My Lyublino”, distributing brochures, information letters signed by the head of the council.

Initiative groups of residents of the houses were selected, and information letters about the benefits of creating a HOA were distributed to homeowners in the houses to create an HOA.

In accordance with Decree of the Government of Moscow No. 398, in order to provide practical assistance to property owners in organizing HOAs in district buildings, specialists from the State Unitary Enterprise “Center for Assistance in the Management of Apartment Buildings and Certification of Premises” are working, who are entrusted with these functions.

As of May 1, 2008, out of 56 HOAs, the HOAs were included in the Unified State Register of Legal Entities at 7 addresses:

• - Krasnodarskaya, 60
• - Lyublinskaya, 113a
• - Marshal Baghramyan, 8
• - Maryinsky Park, 41-2
• - Novorossiyskaya, 16
• - Sovkhoznaya, 18-2
• - Kubanskaya, 12-3

For the remaining 49 buildings, documents were submitted for registration of HOAs to the Moscow Interdistrict Inspectorate of the Federal Tax Service for Moscow.

When creating an HOA in 2008, work on the creation of an HOA was carried out taking into account the Decree of the Moscow Government No. 1032 of December 4, 2007 “On the city target program for the overhaul of apartment buildings in the city of Moscow “For responsible owners - a renovated house” for 2008-2014. "

This program was developed in order to ensure the fulfillment of the city’s obligations to eliminate the underrepair of the housing stock that has accumulated over the past years in conditions of insufficient funding.

First of all, houses where HOAs with a mixed form of ownership (municipal) have been created are selected for selective major repairs. Built before 1991 (inclusive) with reinforced concrete floors, with a number of floors of 6 floors and above, the technical condition of which is satisfactory and partially unsatisfactory.

Since 2009, comprehensive and selective overhauls are carried out only if the owners of premises in an apartment building implement a decision of the general meeting to create a HOA or other association of premises owners.

In the Lyublino district, HOAs were created in 68 residential buildings in the district in 2008. When included in the address lists, the district government took into account the inclusion of residential buildings in the selective capital repair plan in accordance with the city target program for the capital repair of apartment buildings.

Currently, work is being carried out routinely to distribute notifications and collect decisions from owners of houses where it is planned to create a HOA for buildings. As of 05/01/2008: out of 68 HOAs planned for creation in 2008, documents for 29 buildings were transferred to the State Unitary Enterprise "Center..." for submission to HOA registration.

The adopted Program for the Support and Development of Homeowners' Associations for 2007-2009, approved by the Moscow Government Resolution dated May 22, 2007 and other documents of the Moscow Government, provides for the following main measures to support HOAs:

• 1) carrying out, as a matter of priority, major repairs of apartment buildings in which HOAs have been created;
• 2) provision of budget subsidies to HOAs for the maintenance and repair of houses managed by them in the same manner and amount as for the directorates of a single customer (DEZ);
• 3) provision of non-residential premises to HOAs for organizing their activities on a non-competitive basis and at a minimum rental rate, including by transferring vacated residential premises on the first floors, which are the property of the city of Moscow, to non-residential stock;
• 4) determination, as a matter of priority, of the boundaries of land plots under apartment buildings managed by HOAs, and their registration into the common shared ownership of the owners of the premises;
• 5) carrying out activities to create a HOA at the expense of budgetary funds;
• 6) free training for HOA chairmen and citizen initiative groups.

Having considered all the major aspects of the HOA, we can highlight many advantages of this form of management:

• 1) The ability to influence the resolution of issues. The undoubted advantages include the fact that with this form of management, home owners are directly involved in resolving key issues. The general meeting of comrades is the highest governing body in the HOA. The Housing Code includes a wide range of issues under the powers of the general meeting of HOA members.
• 2) Order and cleanliness of your home. The house, entrances, and elevator will undoubtedly become more well-groomed and cleaner. But only under the condition of competent creation and functioning of the HOA. To do this, the HOA has the opportunity to independently select an operating company and control the quality of its work. You can try to solve all the problems with the help of the HOA and hire your own service personnel.
• 3) The ability to reduce residents’ expenses through the economic activities of the HOA. In accordance with Art. 152 of the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, a homeowners’ association may engage in the following types of economic activities:
• 1) maintenance, operation and repair of real estate in an apartment building;
• 2) construction of additional premises and common property in an apartment building;
• 3) renting out, leasing part of the common property in an apartment building.

All income from business activities is used to pay general expenses or sent to special funds.

If the house has non-residential premises, the partnership has the right to rent them out. But this is the exception rather than the rule: usually all non-residential premises have their own owners. But as for the basements and upper technical floors - here the HOA can show its imagination and find a tenant. Even using the exterior walls of your home can generate income. Advertising posters, etc. can be placed on the facade. And this also gives a considerable income, which can be spent on improving the local area or repairing entrances.

HOAs also have disadvantages:

• 1) The opinion of the majority is more important. In accordance with the Housing Code of the Russian Federation, the number of members of the homeowners' association must exceed 50% of the total number of votes of the owners of premises in an apartment building. That is, if the majority of residents of the house want to create an HOA, then the opinions of the rest are not taken into account. Such citizens will have to come to terms with the state of affairs.
• 2) Higher payments. This is the most popular reason for negative attitudes towards HOAs. The HOA must pay mandatory membership fees. After all, in addition to utilities, you need to pay for the work of management bodies, an accountant, a lawyer, etc. Funds are also needed to repair and improve common property.
• 3) Lack of initiative, misunderstanding and laziness of our citizens. To resolve the issue, it is necessary to convene a meeting of HOA members. It’s one thing to gather residents of a building with 10-15 apartments. And it’s completely different for residents of a 200-300-apartment building. It can be very difficult to gather all members of the HOA at a certain time and in a certain place to resolve global issues. Some people cannot come, and others simply do not want to waste their free time attending meetings.

Course work

"Municipal Department of Housing and Communal Services"

Introduction

1. Analysis of the state of housing and communal services

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

Housing and communal services are an important sphere of life of human society. Without its effective functioning, it is impossible to ensure normal living conditions. The housing and communal services system must work smoothly, constantly and taking into account the requirements of the population paying for the relevant services. The relevance of the topic of the course work lies in the fact that today housing and communal services still remain an area that has been little affected by market transformations. More than 45% of the current expenses of utility companies are financed through budget subsidies; the production of utility services is entirely concentrated in local monopolies; there is no competition or incentives to reduce costs and losses; and it is not often possible to attract private business and private investment into the industry.

Management of housing and communal services today is impossible without the effective work of the Directorate of a single customer for managing the housing stock and adjacent territories. Time dictates to the Directorates of a single customer the need to move from the formal execution of residents’ requests to mastering the functions of a management company, when the life of an enterprise is directly dependent on the quality and timely provision of housing and communal services to residents, as well as improving the technical condition of housing. Abroad, such a company actually manages the housing stock, guided by considerations of maximum benefit for the owner, and acts as his authorized representative. But Russian companies are still limited to the framework within which their predecessors operated.

The need for radical transformations in the housing and communal services, where the most important socio-economic ties of society are intertwined, became obvious back in the early 90s. Since the industry includes enterprises whose activities are directly related to meeting the needs of the population for housing and utilities, it itself has a huge impact on the economic situation in the country and, above all, on the formation of municipal budgets.

Due to chronic and constantly decreasing funding for the industry, it becomes impossible to provide the population with quality services, which ultimately leads to annually decreasing volumes of housing repairs and utilities.

Numerous problems of the industry, along with the residual principle of its financing, strict restrictions on new construction, along with demands for improving the quality of services provided, have led to its degradation and stagnation.

In the current difficult situation, the center of gravity of economic transformations is shifting to reforming the housing and communal services industry, including the restructuring of housing construction and the housing stock by type of ownership, sources of financing, etc.

The purpose of the course work is to identify problems in the management of housing and communal services based on its characteristics and offer recommendations for reforming the housing and communal services system.

To achieve this goal, the study identified the following tasks: theoretical studies of the economic mechanism for reforming the housing and communal services industry, as one of the most important and complex parts of the modern economy;

identifying ways to solve the problem of reforming the existing system of housing and communal services;

analysis of the current state of the housing and communal services industry as a complex organizational and economic system in Russia and the Nizhny Novgorod region.

The object of the study is the housing and communal services system, including its structural links, united by technological connections, the services market and the management system. The subject of the study is the problem of managing and reforming the housing and communal services system.

1. Analysis of the state of housing and communal services

1.1 The state of housing and communal services in the modern period

Housing and communal services is a complex of sub-sectors that ensures the functioning of the engineering infrastructure of various buildings in settlements, creating convenience and comfort for citizens to live and stay in them by providing them with a wide range of housing and communal services.

Housing and communal services mean a lot, in particular:

Water supply - installation and repair of water pipes, water intake, purification and delivery of water to apartment buildings and industrial facilities, incl. for subsequent heating for hot water supply and heating needs. Sewage - disposal of waste water.

Heat supply - ensuring the supply of hot water and heat to residents, ensuring the operation of boiler houses and thermal power plants. Disruption of work can cause a fuel and energy crisis.

Major repairs of buildings, current repairs of internal general building engineering communications and systems (buildings).

Collection, removal and disposal of waste and more.

Today, the housing and communal services system, inherited from the period of development of the planned economy, is extremely ineffective and costly. The maintenance of this system in its current form is unsustainable either for consumers of housing and communal services or for the budget system. This is where the problems arise in this industry. The crisis state of the housing and communal services sector is characterized by the subsidization of the industry and an unsatisfactory financial situation, high costs, lack of economic incentives to reduce the costs of producing utilities, an underdeveloped competitive environment and, as a consequence, a high degree of depreciation of fixed assets, inefficient operation of enterprises, large losses of energy and water , other resources. The necessary own funds for reliable and sustainable operation of the housing and communal services complex in its current form are not available separately to any of the interested parties: the state, local authorities, enterprises and the population. Therefore, to get the housing and communal services sector out of the crisis, it is necessary to pool the funds of all interested parties.

1.2 Housing and communal services management and emerging problems

The fundamental point in the approach to organizing the management of housing and communal services is the creation of a Management Company. The management company must be a subject of market relations. At the stage of emerging economic relations in the housing and communal services sector, in order to destroy monopolism and develop contractual relations in this area, and in accordance with current legislation, the most effective organizational and legal form for the Management Company is a Municipal Institution.

It is advisable to divide fixed assets in the housing and communal services sector into three groups:

housing stock;

technology funds;

production assets;

The housing stock includes real estate with established rights of ownership, use and disposal within the boundaries

property, including: land plots and residential buildings with residential and non-residential premises firmly connected to them, outbuildings, green spaces with a long-term development cycle; residential buildings, apartments, other residential premises in residential buildings and other buildings, suitable for permanent and temporary residence; structures and elements of engineering infrastructure of the housing sector.

Technological funds include engineering infrastructure (networks, boiler houses, pumping stations, treatment facilities, water intakes, etc.).

Production assets consist of facilities that provide service to assets of the first and second groups. This includes garages, workshops, administrative and industrial buildings and the like.

The owner of public utility facilities may transfer these funds for economic management or operational management to housing and communal organizations. The areas of the housing and communal services sector differ significantly in their approaches to the formation of effective economic management methods and mechanisms for reducing costs. They can be divided into two groups based on the possibility of creating a competitive environment:

housing;

public utilities.

Over the course of several years of economic reforms, state and municipal ownership of the means of production essentially ceased to be the object of sectoral management. In the housing and communal services sector, these processes began to occur especially intensively within the framework of the implementation of the resolution of the Supreme Council of the Russian Federation dated December 27, 1991 No. 3020-1 “On the delimitation of state property into federal, state subjects of the Russian Federation and municipal property.” Currently, almost all housing and communal services real estate is municipal property. Therefore, a huge role in reforming this area is assigned to local governments. Local government bodies, as owners of housing and communal services facilities, are obliged to formulate a unified social and financial policy in the field of housing and communal services on the territory of the municipality.

The housing and communal services management system should be based on the rational division of functions and the organization of relationships between the owner-homeowner, the management organization, contractors of various forms of ownership that provide maintenance to the housing stock and engineering infrastructure, and the body authorized to exercise state control over the provision of housing and communal services of the required quality, for the use and safety of the housing stock, regardless of its ownership. When choosing a management option, it is advisable to be guided by the principle of giving the owner - the homeowner the right to decide who will maintain the property he owns and manage it.

One of the main social problems, which has been and remains the focus of special attention in the formation of market relations in the Russian Federation, is the implementation of transformations (reforms) and the construction of market mechanisms in the housing and communal services sector. Today we can already conclude that the past period has confirmed the correctness and effectiveness of the ways of reforming the housing and communal services sector chosen by the state in the early 90s. Therefore, it is very important to continue working to restore order in the housing and communal services sector. Without this, effective operation of the industry is impossible. The meaning of the ongoing reforms is to reduce the costs of producing housing and communal services, create a reliable system of social protection of the population and guarantees.

Today, housing and communal services in many regions are experiencing great difficulties and are far behind modern requirements. One of the main reasons for this is the lack of funds allocated from budgets at all levels, as well as widespread non-payments and untimely payment of housing and communal services by the population. And investments are bypassing this industry. And yet the most important, “crisis-forming” problem is the existing management structure of housing and communal services. The lack of management and marketing specialists hinders the development of a competitive environment in the housing and communal services sector. The combination of these two factors - lack of funds and qualified managers - combined with a morally and physically outdated scientific, technical and production base leads to high costs and, as a consequence, high cost of services, which, in turn, leads to non-payments.

As a rule, the municipal administration acts on behalf of the owners of the municipal housing stock. Private owners are represented by legal entities and individuals who own housing stock, homeowners' associations or other organizations that unite owners of residential and non-residential premises in residential buildings (condominiums).

The separation of the functions of the owner of the housing stock from the economic activities of its management and maintenance is especially important for the municipal housing stock. It is necessary to stop the current practice when local governments, represented by their structural divisions, perform economic functions in managing the housing stock.

The local government body, as the owner of the housing stock, must ensure:

· compliance with regulatory and technical requirements for the maintenance and use of housing and communal infrastructure;

· ensuring the necessary level of financing for the maintenance of real estate owned by him;

· concluding agreements for social tenancy, rental or lease of residential and non-residential premises in the housing stock owned by him;

· concluding an agreement with a selected (created) organization for the management of municipal housing stock;

· ensuring systematic monitoring of the implementation of contracts to perform the necessary work to ensure the safety of the housing stock, parameters of the volume and quality of provided housing and communal services.

The management company must ensure:

· maintenance in proper condition and development of real estate accepted from the owner for management in accordance with the requirements of the owner and state quality standards for the provision of housing and communal services;

· financial flows.

So, the problems of housing and communal services management are the lack of funds, qualified personnel, the constant search for alternative sources of financing, the need to attract private business, which needs to be interested in solving issues of reforming the housing and communal services system.

2. Solving issues of housing and communal services reform

2.1 Analysis of the progress of housing and communal services reform

The issue of reforming the housing and communal services in the country is the most important issue of social and economic policy at the present time. The reform should improve the condition of the housing stock, the quality of service to the population, protect its legal rights and interests, increase the efficiency of the industry as a whole and ensure the transition from budget subsidies to full payment for housing and communal services by consumers, including the population.

In accordance with Decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated April 2, 1997 No. 425 “On the reform of housing and communal services in the Russian Federation,” the “Program for reforming housing and communal services in the Kaliningrad region” was developed and approved in 1997.

The main objectives of the Reform Program were:

improvement of the housing and communal services management system in the region;

development of a competitive environment in the provision of public services, transition to a system of contractual relations;

improving the system of payment for housing and communal services and social protection, streamlining the system of benefits.

The key problem of this when organizing the management of housing and communal property is the improvement of contractual relations and the financial mechanism in particular: the collection of utility bills, the provision of subsidies and benefits. Currently, subsidy services are created separately, but in their work they use a single database on the housing stock, tenants, benefits, i.e. almost all the data that is used to calculate the cost of housing and utilities. The development and implementation of a unified system for collecting housing and utility payments from the population and providing subsidies will reduce budget costs for the existence of two services and automate the process, which, in turn, will optimize the collection process itself in terms of time and volume.

Regulatory documents regulating the division of functions of owner, management, and service in the housing and communal services sector at the municipal level, in accordance with the concept of housing and communal services reform in the Russian Federation, are currently not fully adopted in any municipality.

In some municipalities, the functions of the Customer Service are formally assigned to housing maintenance or diversified housing and communal services enterprises, which leads to them combining the functions of customer and contractor for the production activities they perform, and thereby violates the essence of housing and communal services reform. At the same time, it should be noted that already created Customer services do not always effectively solve the problems facing them. For the most part, this is explained by the lack of necessary qualifications and work experience among employees, lack of information on the regulatory framework, and sometimes by a not entirely correct approach when choosing the forms and methods of organizing their activities.

In other municipalities, the functions of owner and customer are performed by structural divisions of the local government body. This violates the principle of market relations - the separation of these functions, since there is no possibility of moving to contractual relations in housing and communal services, and therefore creating conditions for competition and investment.

2.2 Creation of economic mechanisms in housing and communal services

What are the market mechanisms for the functioning of the housing sector? The specificity of the housing sector is that the underdevelopment of competitive relations in this area is caused, first of all, by the costly economic structure of maintaining the housing stock and the administrative management system that developed in the pre-market period.

Creating a competitive environment in the housing sector depends crucially on the effective division of functions and the formation of contractual relations between the owners of the housing stock (or organizations authorized to act on behalf of the owner), management companies and housing contractors.

One of the most important and key conditions for the formation of a new economic policy in the housing and communal services sector, ensuring the protection of consumer interests, guaranteed quality of service, and the destruction of monopolism, is the restructuring of the management of municipal housing and communal property, i.e. the creation of the “Customer Service” that was discussed (the municipal management company) as a subject of the market economy for the management of municipal housing and communal services facilities. The most important condition for reforming the housing and communal services sector is the pricing and tariff policy in this industry.

Today, the real level of payment of the population for housing and communal services has not been established in any municipal formation of the region. There is a wide variation in the cost of housing and communal services across municipalities, since tariffs are approved by local governments, as a rule, without proper economic justification. At the same time, no measures are being taken to reduce the cost of housing and communal services. Tariffs for housing and communal services have turned from economically justified to political on a local scale.

The most significant and most typical drawback of the existing system of tariff regulation is that municipalities, being the owners of the property of municipal enterprises, do not formulate before the latter the goals of their activities (almost any municipal enterprise does not have both a production and an investment program). The lack of targets for public utility companies leads to the fact that relations between housing and communal services enterprises and the municipality take on an administrative nature, and the boundaries of responsibility for providing public services to the population are blurred.

Practice shows that in the vast majority of cases, tariff formation occurs by adding a certain percentage of profitability to the estimated cost. Obviously, such a formula for determining tariffs (“costs +”) does not stimulate enterprises to reduce costs, because the profit included in the tariff is directly proportional to the costs of the enterprise and in such a situation the enterprise is interested in increasing costs.

It is not uncommon for the tariff to not include all components related to the provision of utility services. For example, often the tariff structure does not include the funds necessary for servicing devices and metering units, and the consumption of utilities.

Tariffs are set for an unfixed period, which creates a situation of economic uncertainty for both the enterprise and consumers. In practice, tariffs may not be revised for 3 or more years, despite obvious inflation surges. All this leads to the fact that utility companies find themselves in a situation of chronic underfunding of both their current activities and programs for updating fixed assets. The process of setting tariffs is extremely politicized, since it affects the interests of the population living in the territory of the municipality. Decisions on tariff changes are made taking into account the upcoming elections, and issues of financing the activities of municipal utilities fade into the background.

2.3 Functions of an economic entity

When organizing housing and communal services management, it is necessary to select a contractor to perform work and supply resources to provide housing and utility services for the housing stock entrusted to him for management. If it is economically feasible, these works can be carried out by the Management Company itself (in small settlements). Conclude contracts with contractors selected on a competitive basis to perform work and provide resources of a given quantity, quality and cost. Provide a system for monitoring the implementation of contracts; organize the collection of payments for housing and communal services.

When forming or selecting an organization that will provide property management in the housing and communal services sector, the owner must be guided by the following considerations:

· The management company must be a subject of a market economy.

· The management company should be maximally focused on meeting the needs of tenants and homeowners in terms of providing them with housing and communal services.

· The management company and its staff must be interested, including financially, in the quality of their work.

This orientation can be achieved by choosing appropriate organizational, legal and financial mechanisms. The functions of the Management Company for the housing stock can be performed by an entity of any organizational and legal form (homeowners' associations, associations of owners of youth housing complexes, building cooperatives and others). It is very important that the Management Company is the balance holder of the housing stock, and the production facilities must be transferred to the economic management of enterprises. To manage municipal housing in the Nizhny Novgorod region, it is carried out through the executive authorities of the Nizhny Novgorod region authorized by the Government of the Nizhny Novgorod region; if all premises in an apartment building are state-owned in the Nizhny Novgorod region, management of such buildings is carried out through management organizations determined on a competitive basis. (Law “On Housing Policy in the Nizhny Novgorod Region”. Adopted by the Legislative Assembly on August 30, 2007). Municipal Management Companies can be created in the form of a Municipal Institution. Housing management is a potentially highly competitive field. Increasing the attractiveness of this sector of the economy, including for private capital, will occur with the establishment of real contractual relationships in it.

The costs of providing management company services must be included in the cost of housing and communal services. In the coming years, it is necessary to make a transition to professional management of the municipal housing stock on a competitive basis. In this regard, it is necessary to develop methodological recommendations at the local and regional levels for the development of a system of contractual relations between the owner of the housing stock, the management organization, contractors and resource supply enterprises.

The organization of professional management of the housing stock will ensure in the medium term an improvement in the condition of the housing stock, and in the long term - a reduction in the cost of housing and communal services.

The source of funds invested in the modernization of the housing stock may be an increase in housing fees due to improved living conditions. The source of funds for major repairs is the inclusion in housing payments of deductions for major repairs of the housing stock.

It seems advisable to abandon the existing practice in some municipalities of introducing a system of direct payments for utility services to resource-supplying housing and communal services enterprises, since such a payment procedure will never allow the investment potential of resource saving in the housing stock to be realized.

Creating equal conditions for attracting organizations of different forms of ownership to the management of the municipal housing stock requires the adoption of certain legal decisions at the municipal level. At present, as a rule, the municipal housing stock is assigned to municipal unitary enterprises under economic management or to municipal institutions under operational management. Contractual relations between organizations of this legal form and the municipality in this case are optional. The housing stock is on the balance sheet of these organizations, with both the municipal and privatized share of the common property of the owners of residential premises.

Involving private business in the management of municipal housing stock excludes this form of legal relationship. In order for organizations of different forms of ownership to have equal opportunities to manage the municipal housing stock, existing legal relations must be changed. The municipality, as the owner of the housing stock (part of it in the form of non-privatized apartments), must enter into an agreement with the management company for the management of the housing stock in the form of a contract for the provision of paid services. Similar agreements for the management of housing stock are concluded by other homeowners in this apartment building. The municipality's share in the housing stock is on the balance sheet of a specialized municipal service (municipal management company). The management organization accounts for the housing stock transferred to it for management on its balance sheet account. In this case, the balance holder of the housing stock is the municipal management company.

When demonopolizing the housing sector, it is advisable to hold competitions for specialized work (maintenance of elevator facilities, garbage removal, installation and maintenance of heat and water meters, etc.).

The development of competition in the field of housing stock management will have a significant impact on the introduction of alternative new technologies in the field of heat and electricity supply, allowing for servicing relatively small groups of consumers. This will contribute to the development of competition in the energy supply sector. The management company will have the opportunity to consider alternative options - create its own local source of energy supply or use the services of a centralized energy supply system.

The specialization of cash settlement centers should be the prompt monthly calculation of payments from the population, depending on the actual consumption of housing and communal services. This presupposes the presence of a specialized information and computing base. Therefore, in cities where there will be several management companies, it is advisable to transfer the functions of conducting settlements for payments from the population, under the terms of a contract agreement, to specialized cash settlement centers that collect all information on payments made by consumers to housing and communal services enterprises. In municipalities where the management of the municipal housing stock is carried out by only one management company and it is municipal, it is advisable to create a cash settlement center as a structural division of this company.

Property reform in the housing sector should lead to the development of competition in two directions:

competition in the field of property management for obtaining an order from the owner to manage the housing stock;

competition between contractors to receive an order for the provision of housing and communal services from the management company. The impetus for the development of competition in these areas should be the emergence of a variety of homeowners' associations.

The creation of homeowners' associations within the boundaries of a single real estate complex (condominium), which includes a land plot and a residential building located on it, is today one of the effective ways to protect the rights of homeowners and organize the management of an apartment building with different owners of individual premises.

3. Market mechanisms for the functioning of public utilities

3.1 Creating a competitive environment

The utility sector in the Nizhny Novgorod region is mainly municipal property. Utility enterprises are mainly municipal, to which technological funds are transferred under the right of economic management - engineering infrastructure facilities (heat, water, sewerage networks, water intakes, treatment plants, heat sources, etc.) and technological production funds (equipment, workshops, production and operational base and etc.)

The most important element of the reform should be the creation of a competitive environment in the management and maintenance system of the public utility sector, which will allow the owner of public utility facilities to choose the organization that can provide the required level of quality of work and services at the lowest prices. The development of competition in the public utilities sector is carried out in order to create conditions for overcoming the negative consequences of a monopoly or dominant position (including technologically determined) of housing and communal services organizations by:

formation by local government bodies of a municipal order for the maintenance and development of housing and communal services;

organizing a system of payments for produced and consumed housing and communal services on the basis of contracts, as well as the application of economic sanctions for violation of contractual obligations;

attracting on an equal basis organizations of various forms of ownership to provide housing and communal services.

A necessary prerequisite for the development of competition is the demonopolization of public utilities. Areas of activity in which competition may develop include:

management and maintenance of public utility facilities;

attracting organizations that use alternative forms of providing public services, including autonomous life support systems, facilities not connected with the network engineering infrastructure (rooftop boiler houses, gas supply from tank and bottled gas, and others);

performing individual maintenance work on public utility facilities (repairing and cleaning networks, garbage collection, operating elevator facilities, etc.);

design, survey and construction work for the development of public utility facilities and the like.

It should be borne in mind that the reform of public utilities is aimed at increasing the role of local governments, the independence and responsibility of business entities of various forms of ownership, providing direct service to consumers of housing and communal services and having the legal and financial capabilities not only to carry out current operational activities, but also for the development of housing and communal services.

When solving these problems, special attention should be paid to:

carrying out by local governments the necessary reforms in the field of management, financing and pricing aimed at ensuring more efficient functioning of public utilities;

the formation of structures (Management companies, homeowners' associations and others) representing the interests of all homeowners and protecting the rights of consumers of housing and communal services;

introduction of contractual relations at all stages of production and provision of housing and communal services;

completion of the process of transferring departmental public utility facilities into municipal ownership.

When choosing a management option, it is advisable to be guided by the principle of dividing fixed assets of public utilities into two groups:

the first group is technological funds, which include engineering infrastructure (networks, boiler houses, pumping stations, treatment plants, etc.).

the second group is production assets, which consist of objects that provide service to the assets of the first group. This includes garages, workshops, industrial buildings and the like.

The local government body, as the owner of public utility facilities, can transfer these funds for economic management or operational management to utility contractor organizations.

Thus, the management system for public utilities should be based on the rational division of functions and the organization of relationships between the owner of the engineering infrastructure, the management organization, contractors of various forms of ownership that carry out maintenance of engineering infrastructure facilities, and the body authorized to exercise state control over the provision of housing and housing to the population. public services of the required quality, for the use and safety of the housing stock, regardless of its ownership.

Engineering infrastructure is the life support system of cities and settlements and cannot be the object of separation from municipal property on the one hand. On the other hand, it is necessary to create conditions for market relations in this industry.

To solve this problem, based on the current legislation, it is necessary: ​​technological funds (engineering infrastructure) of public utilities should be transferred, with the right of operational management, to a municipal institution (Municipal Management Company), and production assets can be transferred to the economic management of Municipal Unitary Enterprises.

Thus, public utility facilities are serviced by municipal unitary enterprises and/or joint-stock companies while the local government, through the Management Company, maintains control over the safety of life support facilities. This makes it possible, when corporatizing housing and communal services enterprises, to take into account the different procedures for privatization of production and technological groups of fixed assets.

Organizations specializing in the field of management, among other things, carry out the rational distribution of financial resources between producers of certain housing and communal services.

The function of the service contractor is the timely and high-quality performance of work specified in the contract for the maintenance of public utility facilities.

Municipal organizations for servicing housing and communal services, as independent economic entities, should not be strictly assigned to the corresponding territorial unit.

This will allow, when organizing competitions for servicing technological fund facilities, to stimulate competition not only between municipal organizations and private companies, but also between municipal organizations themselves. At the same time, it is advisable to create equal working conditions for both private and municipal organizations. (provision of non-residential premises without charging rent, equal conditions for the provision of office living space, etc.).

Contracting organizations are exempt from registration and accounting functions unusual for them, passport and accounting work, collection of payments from the population for housing and utilities, registration of benefits and subsidies, and other forms of social services to the population.

Public utility facilities can be serviced by organizations of various forms of ownership if they have a license for the right to service engineering infrastructure facilities.

The existing system for managing engineering infrastructure facilities and tariff regulation makes it almost impossible to attract private investment in the development of utility infrastructure, since it does not interest enterprises in reducing costs. Attracting private investment in urban engineering infrastructure is one of the main goals of the work to reform the tariff regulation system.

3.2 The process of reforming the tariff system

Effective regulation of utilities must be based on a three-part system. The first part is setting goals for the activities of utility companies (formation of their production and investment programs), the second is the issues of formation and approval of tariffs as a means of financial support for these programs, and the third part is monitoring utility companies. These three components together provide the opportunity for local governments to fulfill their responsibilities to provide the population with quality public services.

Determining goals for specific utility enterprises should be based on developed long-term schemes for the development of heat supply and water supply systems for cities and towns. The tariff regulation system must ensure the feasibility of the enterprise's production and investment programs approved for the next regulation period. To do this, the tariff regulation system must:

encourage utility companies to reduce costs and improve the quality of services provided;

promote investment in public utilities;

ensure that municipal enterprises generate a sufficient amount of financial resources to achieve their goals;

take into account the formation of competitive relations in a number of sub-sectors of housing and communal services;

have built-in mechanisms to reduce the politicization of the process of setting utility tariffs.

In addition to creating economic mechanisms that would encourage enterprises to independently identify reserves for reducing costs for the provision of utility services, a mechanism for identifying obviously irrational costs should be provided as an element of the tariff regulation procedure. In particular, when making decisions on setting tariffs, the results of comprehensive surveys of utility companies should be used, including independent examinations and audits (at the expense of budgetary funds).

The process of setting tariffs for utility services should consist of finding a compromise between the technical objectives and financial needs of service providers and the effective demand of consumers.

The utility regulatory system must ensure that rate changes are predictable and predictable. Tariffs must be established for a certain period (regulation period), which must be consistent with the period of regulation of tariffs established at the federal (gas) and regional (electricity) levels. This requirement serves three purposes. Firstly, it creates a situation of certainty regarding the future cash flows of the enterprise, which reduces the risks of investing in it. Secondly, during the regulated period, the enterprise can take measures to reduce costs, and use the resulting savings to repay borrowed funds. Thirdly, this measure will contribute to increased economic certainty for utility consumers. The establishment of the validity period of the tariff should be supplemented in an unstable economy by the determination of external factors, the change of which should lead to a mandatory automatic recalculation of the tariff or a change in the production program of the enterprise.

Tariff regulation procedures must ensure publicity of the tariff formation process. This is necessary in order to achieve trust on the part of consumers of utility services, as well as to help achieve a balance of interests in the process of regulating tariffs. The publicity of the system should ensure the necessary methodological and information interaction between the individual elements of this system: procedures for monitoring, preparation and consideration of applications for revision of tariffs, their approval and entry into force. An important factor in effective tariff regulation should be increasing the professionalism of the regulatory body and ensuring its work with the most detailed formalized procedures. In accordance with the law, regulation of the activities of municipal enterprises is the competence of local governments. In regional centers and large cities, local governments are able to form professionally working regulatory bodies or attract highly qualified specialists to their work within the framework of interdepartmental commissions. For small municipalities, it is advisable to delegate the function of regulating tariffs of utility infrastructure enterprises to the regional level, which should improve the quality of decisions made.

The Housing and Communal Services Reform Fund will ensure the participation of small businesses in programs for the overhaul of houses and the resettlement of dilapidated housing. According to the Chairman of the Government, the Housing and Communal Sector Reform Fund will ensure greater participation of small businesses in the programs for the overhaul of apartment buildings and the resettlement of dilapidated housing. “Orders worth at least 5 billion rubles will be distributed among such companies,” V. Putin said. small 2It is necessary to change the accounting system at utility enterprises of energy and resource supply in order to move from the established practice of minimizing tax payments to the practice of ensuring transparency and stimulating investment in the energy and resource supply sector. It is necessary to ensure separate accounting of fixed and variable costs in order to formulate two-part tariffs for thermal energy and water. This will reduce seasonal fluctuations in payments, reduce the shortage of working capital of heat supply enterprises, and increase their financial stability.

As individual metering devices are installed and the consumption of basic utilities is regulated, it is necessary to make a transition from payment according to consumption standards to payment based on meter readings.

The introduction of separate accounting for the production and transport of thermal energy will create the prerequisites for the formation of local markets for thermal energy by separating the monopoly transport of thermal energy and competitive production, which involves the legal separation and transfer to the management of various economic entities of municipal heating networks and heat sources. This task is of great practical importance, since most large municipalities have a fairly large excess of thermal energy capacity and in this situation there is an objective economic opportunity to buy thermal energy from a cheaper producer.

The solution to this problem will contribute to the formation of local heat markets in most cities and towns of the region, the cost of which will be determined taking into account the cost of transport through municipal heating networks. It is important that among such sources of thermal energy, local heat sources should increasingly be present, especially in sparsely populated areas (cottage development), with difficult terrain, in places remote from large heat sources, that is, in cases where the cost of thermal transport energy is comparable to the cost of heat production.

An important task in ensuring effective tariff regulation should be the creation of a legal basis for including payments to repay the principal amount of the debt in the cost of products and services of public utilities during the period of implementation of reconstruction projects using borrowed funds.

It is possible to formulate several fundamental principles for regulating tariffs for goods (works, services) of regulated business entities, on the basis of which a system for regulating housing and communal services tariffs should be built. It is advisable to regulate tariffs at the municipal level within the framework of a permanent interdepartmental commission or an independent regulatory body. Representatives of administration departments and public organizations (for example, a consumer protection society), representing the interests of all interested parties, should participate in establishing payment rates for housing and communal services and tariffs for municipal enterprises and institutions. An interdepartmental commission (or an independent regulatory body) makes decisions, which are then submitted to the head of local government for final approval. When considering tariffs, local governments have the right to seek help from organizations of any form of ownership, including a professional regulatory body created at the regional level; tariffs should be set for fixed periods. During the regulation period, tariffs must remain unchanged in real terms, which implies their periodic indexation according to a predetermined rule and/or a list of reasons for their revision until the end of the regulation period; tariffs established for a regulated enterprise must generate in it such a volume of financial resources that would be sufficient to implement the approved production and investment program.

On July 26, 2010, the General Director of the Fund for Assistance to the Reform of Housing and Communal Services, Konstantin Tsitsin, visited the All-Russian Youth Educational Forum "Seliger-2010", opened in the Ostashkovsky district of the Tver region. The events were attended by the head of the Federal Agency for Youth Affairs Vasily Yakemenko and the director of the Seliger-2010 Forum Ilya Kostunov. Representatives of the Housing and Communal Services Fund were given a tour of the Forum. The General Director of the Foundation visited art objects, exhibitions and expositions presented at the Seliger-2010 forum. At the Seliger 2010 Forum, the General Director of the Housing and Communal Services Fund met with the coordinators of the federal youth project “All at Home”. The project participants spoke about its content. According to them, the ultimate goal is to bring new technologies to every entrance and home in Russia. Forum participants also noted that such projects are already being implemented in 22 regions of Russia.

But without modern education, it makes no sense to start such a large-scale work. Therefore, each project participant within the framework of the Seliger-2010 Forum takes courses, receives consultations from leading experts in the field, attends master classes and public lectures. After training, each participant must develop a project for modernizing their own home. One of the main tasks of which should be explanatory work among residents, aimed at developing the consciousness of a responsible homeowner. The guys proclaimed the motto of the project “All at Home”: be proud of the house where you live!

Project participants in different cities of Russia carry out actions aimed at creating the consciousness of a responsible homeowner, as well as combating unscrupulous payers.

General Director of the Housing and Communal Services Fund Konstantin Tsitsin noted that now young people have real chances to realize themselves in the housing and communal services sector and have the opportunity to take leading positions, since the industry is currently developing dynamically and is open to innovation.

The General Director of the Housing and Communal Services Fund also spoke about the role of youth in the development of the housing and communal services industry at the lecture “The main directions of the Fund’s activities, the place of youth in the housing and communal services reform,” which he read in front of 400 activists of the “All Homes” project.

The country needs professional managers in the housing and communal services sector who are capable of not only operating taps and toilets, but can effectively manage “smart” residential buildings, neighborhoods and territories, settlements and towns, and condominiums. However, the housing and communal services industry today is a high-tech industry where all the latest modern information technologies, various innovations and even nanotechnologies are used. This requires specialists who have received special training that allows them to correctly understand, effectively and timely implement, and skillfully use scientific achievements, market legal relations, resource-saving and information technologies, and best practices in the activities of management companies. The housing and communal services industry will always exist and it needs young qualified personnel. This is a promising industry with the opportunity for rapid growth,” said Konstantin Tsitsin. Currently, training courses for HOA chairmen and professional managers of management companies have been organized in almost all regions of the country.

In his opinion, young people should be no less interested in the possibility of organizing small businesses in the housing and communal services sector. Small businesses operating in the housing and communal services sector are a reliable support and equal partner of the Fund in reforming the housing and communal services sector. The increase in the number of small businesses helps maintain a variety of services in the market, which means there is more choice available. In addition, the development of small enterprises opens up great opportunities for creating new jobs. These are the obvious advantages that lie on the surface, not to mention the significant contribution to the economy of our country.

According to Konstantin Tsitsin, the creation of competitive enterprises in the industry, in turn, will improve the quality of housing and communal services and the culture of serving the population. At the end of the speech, the Forum participants asked the General Director of the Housing and Communal Services Fund, Konstantin Tsitsin, a number of questions about the work of the Fund and the role of youth in the development of the industry.

Talking about the work of the Fund, Konstantin Tsitsin noted that the Fund for Assistance in Housing and Communal Services Reform was created by the state not just as a mechanism for distributing money. This is an innovative tool for solving a number of problems that will allow reform of the housing and communal services industry in the country.

The first of them is the formation of a full owner, the owner of the home. Another task solved through the Fund is the return of debts by the state to its citizens. After all, back in the early 1990s, Russians received the right to register their housing as their own. But for many people this right became more of a problem - the state was unable to provide housing in an acceptable condition. The program for the overhaul and resettlement of emergency housing will restore historical justice. Finally, the third main task for which the Fund was created is to improve the mechanisms for allocating funds to overcome acute social problems.

The General Director of the Fund noted that currently, with the participation of the Fund, housing and communal services have been repaired or are being repaired in more than 90 thousand apartment buildings. Monitoring of the implementation of capital repair programs and resettlement of citizens from dilapidated housing by the Foundation’s specialists is carried out constantly. According to Konstantin Tsitsin, this is a complex and voluminous task. Therefore, it is so important that residents monitor the implementation of these works and accept them. These responsibilities of the residents of the house, provided for by Federal Law-185, contribute to the education of a responsible owner.

In the Sosnovsky district of the Nizhny Novgorod region, in accordance with the Federal Law “On the Fund for Assistance to the Reform of Housing and Public Utilities,” major repairs of multi-apartment residential buildings are being carried out. 26 high-rise buildings fell under this federal program. So, the Government’s program is being implemented, positive changes have occurred, but much remains to be done.

Conclusion

Organizing the successful operation of housing and communal services is one of the important conditions for ensuring decent living conditions. The housing and communal services management system requires reform. The main goal of the housing and communal services reform is to improve the quality of housing and communal services while simultaneously reducing the costs of their provision. Monopoly in this area does not give consumers and, first of all, the population the opportunity to choose the necessary range of housing and utility services on the market. To successfully implement the above goal, the following tasks must be completed:

· Completion of the process of delineating the functions of owner, management and maintenance in the housing and communal services sector at the municipal level.

· Increasing the transparency of all procedures for forming the housing and communal services tariff policy.

· Modernization of personnel policy and training of a new generation of managers for housing and communal services.

· Restructuring and liquidation of debts in the housing and communal services sector.

There is a need for a systematic, phased transition to full payment for housing and communal services while simultaneously forming effective, efficient bodies designed to provide targeted social protection measures for the poor. Budget funds allocated for the modernization of housing and communal services must be used effectively and for their intended purpose. It is necessary to strengthen control over compliance with legislation regulating relations in the housing and communal services sector.

As for the system for collecting and processing information about major changes in the housing sector in Russia, housing privatization, data on housing and utility costs, tariffs and subsidies, payments and debts of utility consumers, it must be clearly organized. With the participation of the private sector, housing maintenance will improve.

Creation of a resource saving system (introduction of advanced technologies, installation of energy meters (water, gas and heat, etc.)).

Bibliography

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