The Small and Medium Business Agency in the Ministry of Economy and Industry, today (Sunday) published the index of doing business in local authorities, in which the 75 authorities in Israel were ranked, with the largest number of businesses. The Agency is compiling the Local Authorities Index for the fifth time and aims to serve as a tool for the local authority, as it allows each authority to compare its performance with other authorities in a variety of parameters, as well as to analyze its performance in the areas in which it is active.
The index is based on a number of parameters that are examined in each authority and examine the level of “friendliness” of the authority for businesses within its area. The index divides the authorities into three size groups according to the number of residents, since a local authority of up to 50,000 residents is not similar to a local authority of more than 150 residents.
Ashdod, the most friendly city for small and medium-sized businesses, took first place in a row. In contrast, Ramat Gan dropped from second place to eighth place, Bat Yam dropped from fourth place to twelfth place and Netanya dropped from fifth place to thirteenth place. The Small Business Agency emphasizes that a downgrade does not mean that the authority’s business service has deteriorated, and in many cases it is due to the fact that the service of other business authorities has improved more and they have risen in rank, while the downgraded authority has improved its business services less.
Among the authorities that rose in the ranking are Petah Tikva, which rose from sixth place to second place, and Rehovot, which rose from twelfth place to third place. Tel Aviv, which dropped from fourth place to eleventh in 2019, improved in 2021 and rose to sixth place, mainly due to a significant increase in the score given to it by businesses in the satisfaction survey.
Minister of Economy and Industry Orna Barbibai said: “The index is intended to encourage local authorities to facilitate small and medium-sized businesses, starting from the date of opening the business and throughout its activities with the authorities. Business is a significant growth engine for the Israeli economy and they “The development of small businesses is in the public interest of all of us, but the local authority has a direct impact on the businesses that are in it.
Ran Koiti, Director of the Small and Medium Business Agency at the Ministry of Economy and Industry, added that “local authorities play a key role in the ability of businesses in their field to prosper and flourish. The index, which we are conducting for the fifth year, was born “In the last two years we have been dealing with the corona crisis, the authorities have a greater weight in helping businesses survive in their field and survive in general.” “This year we also added to the regular index an index that examined the special activities they did in the authorities for the benefit of businesses to help them deal with the constraints due to the corona crisis.”
This year, the number of authorities participating in the index increased from 60 authorities in 2019 to 75 authorities in this index (2021). The criteria for participation in the index have also been sharpened and are currently based only on the size of the authority. Following the change, there was also a change between the authorities participating in the index, 21 local authorities were added to it and 6 authorities that participated in it in the past were deducted from it. This change also affected the position of some authorities, which dropped in the index due to a higher rating of authorities that entered the index only this year. Among the new entrants to the index, the Mateh Binyamin Regional Council was ranked fourth among the authorities in the size of 50-150,000 residents, and the Gezer and Golan regional councils were ranked first and second, respectively, in the authorities of up to 50,000 residents.
Samaria Regional Council is a leader in the property tax category
The index is updated once a year and weighs four different ratings in each local authority: business satisfaction, access to tenders, access to information and property taxes.
Business Satisfaction – Satisfaction with the authority was examined through a survey conducted by the agency among local businesses. The survey examined the following aspects of the local authority’s conduct: business promotion, supervision and enforcement, collection of payments and signage, and services that the authority provides to businesses.
In the satisfaction index, among the authorities with more than 150,000 residents, Tel Aviv and Haifa improved their rankings from the last places in the rankings and moved to the second five. Ashdod, Petah Tikva and Ashkelon retained their place in the top five. Among the authorities with 150,000-50,000 residents, Kiryat Gat and Ramat Hasharon dropped from the ranking in the top five to the fifth five. In municipalities with up to 50,000 residents, Gezer, Golan, Givat Shmuel, Ness Ziona and the Modi’in region are ranked in the highest places.
Access to tenders Is a ranking that reviews the tenders published by the Authority. Holon rose from fourteenth place to third place and Rehovot jumped from thirteenth place to first place. Jerusalem, which was in first place in 2019, dropped to second place.
Rating Accessibility of information Based on the scope of information presented to businesses on the Authority’s website, the general degree of convenience to reach and understand it, and the level of digitization of the Authority’s services. Of the large cities, with a size of over 150,000 residents, Tel Aviv and Haifa maintain the first and second place in this ranking, respectively. Netanya, which was in the top five, drops to tenth place and Jerusalem rose from ninth place to second place. Ashkelon and Beer Sheva dropped from the top five to 13th and 11th places respectively.
Rating The property tax Constructed by comparing the average business property tax relative to the 75 authorities participating in the index. In the large authorities with over 150,000 residents, the first five hardly change, in the authorities up to 150,000 residents, two new authorities entered the first five in the ranking: Rahat and Mateh Binyamin. In authorities with up to 50,000 residents, 6 authorities were dropped from the index (due to their size) and most of the new authorities included in the index were added this year. The five authorities ranked in the first places in this group are: Samaria, Golan, Gilboa, Merom Hagalil and Mate Asher – all new authorities.
A garbage can full of Jerusalem, is there a return for property taxes? Photo: Yonatan Zindel / Flash 90
Each of the rankings presented above is a separate ranking, so each authority has four separate rankings: business satisfaction, information accessibility, property tax and accessibility to tenders. Based on the four rankings, a final ranking was constructed in which each of the rankings received weight, according to its importance, as follows: business satisfaction 55%, property tax payments 15%, information accessibility of websites and digital services 10%, and auction friendliness 20%.
Corona Index – In addition to the index described, this year the Small and Medium Business Agency also conducted another special rating that examines the activities of local authorities, for the benefit of businesses, during the Corona crisis. For this rating, businesses were asked a number of questions regarding the actions taken by the Authority in order to make it easier for them to deal with the restrictions following the corona. The rating also examined the extent to which information related to the corona crisis was made available on the Authority’s website. In this index, which is based on unique questions in the business survey and on the accessibility of information regarding guidelines, Ramat Gan, Gezer and Nof Hagalil excelled, which are the first in the groups of authorities according to their size.