Public Expenditure Quality and Municipal Water Service Sustainability: Diagnosis and Intervention Design in Picota, Peru

Abstract

Public expenditure quality and municipal water service continuity must be assessed using distinct administrative indicators and institutional perceptions. This study aimed to characterise both variables in 2025 in a district municipality in Picota Province, Peru, and to design an intervention proposal. An applied, quantitative, non-experimental, cross-sectional study with a descriptive and proposal-oriented design was conducted. Of 111 registered employees and contractors, 67 were initially selected by convenience, and 53 participated. Two 25-item questionnaires were used, with a reported Aiken’s V of 0.97 and Cronbach’s alpha coefficients of 0.98 and 0.97. Public expenditure was rated high by 64.15% of respondents, while 62.26% assigned the same rating to services. Programme 0083 accounted for 2.17% of the initial institutional budget; the recorded water supply was 12 hours per day, and 312 of 620 users had overdue payments (50.32%). A nine-component intervention was developed with a projected budget of PEN 52,000 and a planned 12-month pilot. Five experts awarded the proposal 401 out of 405 possible points (99.01%). This technical appraisal does not establish the intervention’s effectiveness following implementation.