Addressing the issues of delimitation and enhancement of local autonomy in the management of local cmmunities is an exciting and challenging endeavor, especially since this subject is very topical. This paper, built up on the investigation of recent publications in local government management, presents a unified position reflected in the field literature on the decisive role of the autonomy of communities in the management of local development. Furthermore, it should be considered that, in many of the studies under investigation, there is some consistency in the approach of the financial dimension of autonomy, without which there cannot be a successful selfmanagement of local public affairs. This paper also points out that only under conditions ensuring a genuine local autonomy it is possible to meet the needs of local communities by providing quality public services.