powiatom

Powiatom is the dative plural form of the Polish noun powiat, which denotes a county in Poland's system of local government. In Polish grammar, powiat is declined as powiat (nominative), powiaty (genitive), powiatowi (dative singular), powiatem (instrumental), powiatach (locative); and in plural as powiaty, powiatów, powiatom, powiatami, powiatach. The form powiatom is used when referring to several counties in the dative case, for example: Pomoc powiatom była potrzebna (Aid to the counties was needed) or Przekazano środki powiatom (Funds were allocated to the counties).

Powiats are an administrative unit of Poland, ranking between voivodeships (województwa) and gminas. There are urban counties (miasta na prawach powiatu) and land counties (powiaty ziemskie). Each powiat has a local government headed by a starosta (county governor) and a county council. Its responsibilities typically include secondary education, hospitals and other health care, public transport on a county level, maintenance of county roads, and welfare services; it coordinates with gminas on spatial planning and regional development. The seat of a powiat is the town or city where the starost's office and council meet.

Historically, powiats were reinforced in Poland's 1999 local government reform, which established the current three-tier structure of voivodeships, powiats, and gminas. The term powiatom thus appears primarily in grammatical contexts, rather than as a distinct administrative entity.