The principles of organizing program-targeted management in the most general form can be defined as theoretical imperatives that reflect objective requirements, the fulfillment of which ensures the productive implementation of the economic and organizational potential of the named type of management. We believe that the organization of program-targeted management of the development of municipalities is based on a combination of general, special and particular principles. In our opinion, general principles have two levels of manifestation. At the first stage, the principles of organizing the management of systems of any nature - technical, biological, socio-economic - are implemented. Among them, the principles of feedback, necessary and sufficient diversity should be highlighted. At the second level - the principles of managing socio-economic systems, i.e. systems in which people and groups of people are the subject and object of organizational influence.