Which country runs best?
I don't think it's the UK
In the UK the county council is responsible for services like schools and providing resources for people to live independently when they've got conditions (this saves a lot of care costs otherwise). Local councils are responsible for refuse collection, etc. It's the local Council that collects a Tax from the residents, but the majority of money needed for the residents comes from central government.
Since 2010 central government has reduced the amount it sends to each county council by over a third.
Things are bad, and they're going to get worse.
https://www.instituteforgovernment.org.uk/explainer/local-government-funding-england
https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/what-happens-if-a-council-goes-bankrupt/
Hard to say.
There seems to be a general drive towards placing responsibilities on councils, without a proper funding method in place.
You see that in the Netherlands too.
Germany, I don’t know. What I do know there is that each council is responsible for roads in its area… but that leaves inter-council roads underfunded… a bizarre problem for Western European standards.
One would imagine that standardisation would reduce costs. But that doesn’t work when councils become responsible for implementation, due to local politics wanting ever more customization.