Examination of the problems facing municipalities in Turkey in terms of the complexity of financial laws

Readability is a concept that determines a text's comprehensibility level and is evaluated based on linguistic features such as syllabic structure, word length, and sentence complexity. Readability studies examine various text types in the literature, from primary school textbooks to legal documents. Existing studies in the field of public finance primarily focus on the comprehensibility of tax legislation from the taxpayers' perspective. However, there is a significant research gap concerning the readability of financial legislation related to local governments, particularly municipalities. This thesis aims to fill that gap by analysing the readability level of municipal financial legislation in Turkey. The study is based on the Ateşman Readability Formula (1997), which is widely used in Turkish texts' readability analysis. Within this scope, legislative texts related to municipal finance are examined in terms of linguistic complexity, density of technical terminology, and structural characteristics. These analyses aim to assess the accessibility of the legislation through objective criteria and to provide scientific data regarding the current situation. In the study, six critical legislative texts that form the foundation of the municipal finance system were analysed in detail: Law No. 1319 on Property Tax, Law No. 2464 on Municipal Revenues, Law No. 5216 on Metropolitan Municipalities, Law No. 5393 on Municipalities, the Law No. 5779 on the Allocation of General Budget Tax Revenues to Special Provincial Administrations and Municipalities, and the Law No. 5957 on the Regulation of Trade in Vegetables, Fruits, and Other Goods with Adequate Supply and Demand Depth. The readability levels of these texts were found to fall predominantly within the "difficult" and "very difficult" categories. The legislation's complexity and lack of clarity hinder a proper understanding and effective implementation of the definitions of municipal duties and responsibilities, the functioning of the financial system, and sources of revenue. By addressing this critical yet under-researched issue in the field of municipal finance in Turkey, the study also provides valuable data and recommendations for local government reforms and legislative simplification efforts.