What ıssues are local fınance offıcıals dealing with currently, and how are they managing them? A good place to get an overall picture is from the Government Finance Officers Association. Eighty-five percent of cities and counties with populations over 25,000 … Continue reading →
It can be a nightmare for any neighborhood: A house or apartment complex in disrepair is ruining the block, and the landlord defies cleanup/renovation orders. Eventually, local government is tasked with taking matters into its own hands. Programs like the … Continue reading →
Although no one’s goıng on a spendıng spree anytime soon, for the first time since the economic turndown, local, state and federal governments are loosening the purse strings a little. Vacancies have been filled in some departments, and a few … Continue reading →
The good news ıs ın. Accordıng to a recent Moody’s report, property values are on the rise, albeit slowly. While this trend is favorable, local governments are finding their hands tied when it comes to capturing additional revenue from property … Continue reading →
The National League of Cities recently noted how intergovernmental grants to municipalities are shrinking and becoming more competitive. As a result of this and other factors, local governments have been searching for other ways of obtaining funding, often with mixed … Continue reading →
As budgets get stretched tighter and tighter, everyone is looking for innovative ways to complete civic projects. Civic crowdfunding is an avenue that has met with some success. Crowdfunding is defined as the practice of obtaining needed services, ideas or … Continue reading →
If you live in a community where the local grapevine outpaces the information superhighway, then take heart. You are not alone. While small municipalities across the nation struggle to offer their residents Matrix-level technology on a Pawnee budget, some have … Continue reading →
Tax incremental financing is sometimes hailed as the greatest thing since sliced bread. Other times it’s denounced as a poison pill for local government budgets. TIF, a taxing method to entice urban redevelopment, was invented by the California legislature in … Continue reading →
KNOX ROSS | Guest columnist Mayor, Pelahatchie, Miss. Pelahatchie, Miss., a small town of 1,500 located in the Jackson urbanized area, faces a situation that many other small towns on the periphery of the urban growth pattern face: that is, … Continue reading →
After 20 years the Louisiana Asset Management Pool continues to go strong, with 636 local Louisiana governmental units participating in the program and pooling a total of $1.6 billion in local government funds. Of those participants, 96 are cities, towns … Continue reading →
Personnel costs typically make up the largest expenditure of any municipal budget and regardless of our budgeting philosophy, our approach to these costs as managers and budget directors is often formulaic. We project the personnel hours needed to fulfill our … Continue reading →
