Abstract
The article offers evidence that municipal budget can be regarded as an indicator of citydevelopment. The author uses the data of Vinnytsia town budget as an example to trace municipal financial resources development in the period of 1880–1916. Analysis of changes in credit and debit of the town budget allows the author to outline the main directions of city development. The main inference drawn from the study is that on the eve of the World War I Vinnytsia was developing as an administrative, military, educational and cultural center rather than an economic and trading one.