This study reports the situation and financing of solid waste management sen'ices inrnAdama town of Oromia Region (Ethiopia). The study showed that the town is currentlyrnproviding inadequate solid waste management services. The town administration collectsrnand disposes less than 15 percent of the wastes generated by the town annually. It is alsornfound out that the solid waste collection and disposal systems are backward and are notrneconomical as well. The institutional arrangements' for the management of both liquidrnand solid wastes are also very weak.rnThe town administration allocates a marginal budget to this service which is less than 10rnpercent of its total budget as opposed to towns of developing countries that commitrnbetween 20 and 40 percent of their budget for the same. Low budget and lowrnperformances are generally attributed to scarcity of resources. However, problems ofrninsufficient mobilization of the available resources and misuses are found to be equallyrnserious according to this study. This shows that studying the financing system of urbanrnservices is an important area to reckon since it is helpfit! to look for ways by which thernservice may be improved by using the available resources differently. It may also be ofrnadvantage to check whether the available meager resources are effectively andrnefficiently used for the priority and basic needs of the town. The study also suggests somernlines of action that are essential to improve the current inadequate solid wasternmanagement service of Adama town.