Government Finance Review

Charlotte, NC Charlotte, NC's city officials developed several restructuring and reengineering programs which improved the city's means of providing services. The city's implementation of a five-year $42 million community safety plan, for instance, has resulted to the maintenance of a stable property tax rate since 1988. Competition and privatization efforts, in addition, have enabled the private sector to contract an estimated $180 million in services. Charlotte continually aims to provide ...

A guide to on-line purchasing information.

The National Assn of State Purchasing Officials, the National ASSN of Purchasing Management (NAPM) and the National Institute of Governmental Purchasing (NIGP) present World Wide Web home pages which feature useful information such as education and training programs, membership services and and publications. On-line visitors can go to NIGP's site which offers a technical solutions section which shows the features of various automated purchasing management software packages. An on-line trainin...

A preconference look at Florida Web sites.

Several Web sites in Florida offer various information which tourists as well as state and government finance officials will find useful. Metro Dade County, FL's site at http://www.metro-dade.com/home.asp features a list of government services and different recreation, sports and cultural events and locations. Educators, parents and students can get several educational resources from Orange County Public Schools' home page at http://www.ocps.k12.fl.us.

Achieving Accountability in Business and Government: Managing for Efficiency, Effectiveness, and Economy.

Cities Without Suburbs, 2d ed.

Contract monitoring for financial and operational performance.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities' five-year competition/contracting plan Charlotte-Mecklenburg Utilities (CM-Utilities) held a comprehensive five-year competition/contracting plan with the aim of identifying services which could be competitively bid with the private sector. The competition plan included the maintenance and operation of the Vest Water Treatment Plant and the Irwin Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant in Aug 1995. The competition's main goals for the operation and maintenance of th...

Cutting the cost of government in Philadelphia.

Philadelphia, PA's management of its $200 million operating deficit Philadelphia, PA's city officials determined to implement a five-year financial plan as a solution to the city's $200 million annual structural deficit and its impending municipal bankruptcy in Jan 1992. The fiscal board reevaluated the operation of the city government and devised ways to increase productivity and save money. In addition, city officials also focused on cutting waste and volunteers willingly participated in c...

GASB reporting model exposure draft.

Governmental Accounting Standards Board The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) presented its exposure draft (ED) on the government's financial reporting model 'Basic Financial Statements - and Management's Discussion and Analysis - for State and Local Governments' in Jan 1998. The GASB proposed that governments should prepare a statement of activities and a statement of net assets in the ED. In addition, the GASB also suggested that governments should develop three major financia...

GFOA and the GASB reporting model.

Government Finance Officers Association; Governmental Accounting Standards Board - Editorial One of the main responsibilities of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) is to improve the quality of its financial reporting through the governmental financial reporting model. The GASB announced plans to make basic changes in the reporting model in Jan 1998. These changes were predicted to have a significant impact on local and state governments that use generally accepted accounting ...

Government Finance Officers Association's book ' Recommended Practices for State and Local Governments Approved by the Government Finance Officers Association' Members of the Government Finance Officers Assn (GFOA) received a compilation of GFOA's published 'Recommended Practices for State and Local Governments Approved by the Government Finance Officers Association' in Mar 1997. The book presents several guidelines on proper financial management practices. Recommended practices include the ...

Local government financial emergencies legislation in Florida: definitions and reporting responsibilities.

A local government financial emergencies statute (FES) was approved by the Florida Government Finance Officers Assn in 1979 as a solution to the state of financial crisis experienced in several US cities. The FES was enacted to ascertain that local governments responsibly performed the proper steps to address the financial emergency. Certain criteria for determining financial emergency in local governments are established by Florida's FES. A financial emergency is determined by several factor...

Local government financial emergency: the case of Miami, Florida.

Miami, FL's fiscal crisis developed due to several improper financial practices and failure of the city's commissioners and mayors to adopt an adequate financial recovery plan. City commissioners, who failed to implement necessary fiscal policies, stubbornly refused to increase taxes and fees and lessen expenditures. To balance yearly budgets, city officials also practiced various improper financial practices for years such as using restricted funds for unrelated activities. The City of Miami...

Making a revenue bond ordinance work effectively: tips, tricks, and traps.

Revenue bond ordinances generally contain a section which defines terms and words used in the ordinance. Important terms used in revenue bonds include net revenues, operating expenses and debt service. These terms form the basis for rate and other contracts which the issuer will undertake. The pledge of revenues which bondholders use is also formed by merging these terms. However, most revenue bond ordinances deflect from generally-accepted accounting principles in relation to definitions of ...

Making and keeping promises in San Diego.

San Diego, CA's financial and crime management San Diego, CA's city officials organized a Business Ombudsman Program to retain and attract employers and encouraged citizens to share their opinions on city regulations at Regulatory Relief Days in an effort to solve the city's financial crisis. By implementing strict budgets on water and housing, the city cut water and sewer capacity charges by 55% and reduced housing trust fund fees by 50%. To solve the city's high violent crime rate, juvenil...

Neighborhoods: the heart of Greenville.

Business development in Greenville, SC More than 241 companies representing 18 countries have set up their businesses in the Greenville, SC. The ability of the city to attract various international firms springs from a commitment to strong partnerships between the private and public sectors. Major investors and small businesses have set up their shops in downtown Greenville, offering various music and entertainment events which attract people of all ages from different destinations. The city...

Paying for new development: the urban structure program of the City of Lancaster.

Lancaster, CA - Includes related article on fiscal objectives of Lancaster's urban structure plan Governments in cities across Canada and the US have acted as mediators between pro-growth and no-growth communities and have made futile attempts to please the two opposing parties for many years. The City of Lancaster, CA, has developed the urban structure program (USP) in light of the need for new and expensive infrastructure expansions in the city. USP was devised with the aim of passing the ...

Privatization or managed competition? The Fort Lauderdale experience.

Fort Lauderdale, FL's concept of managed competition - Includes related article on Fort Lauderdale, FL's cemetery case study The city of Fort Lauderdale, FL, has utilized the concept of managed competition in dealing with its service delivery instead of solely depending on privatization as a cost-reduction solution. The city has categorized five types of service delivery. This includes contracting out some of its services such as school crossing guards and elevator maintenance and franchisin...

Reengineering utility billing to improve efficiency.

New water billing system of the Village of Carol Stream near Chicago The Village of Carol Stream near downtown Chicago contracted with a private firm to make improvements in its water billing system which sometimes caused high payment-rejection rates and lock box rejection problems. The company presented an internally developed software program which uses a modem to obtain payment information from the lock box electronically. The information is then automatically transmitted to the village's...

Survey Research for Public Administration.

Tax simplification 101: an arbitrage rebate safe-harbor proposal.

Government Finance Officers Assn's safe-harbor proposal The Government Finance Officers Assn in cooperation with the National Assn of Counties have developed an arbitrage rebate safe-harbor proposal with the aim of simplifying arbitrage compliance for municipal bond providers. The proposed safe harbor does not consider an issuer of municipal tax-exempt bonds to have gained arbitrage in line with the rebate requirements if he meets six criteria. These include the provision that the bonds are ...

The Electronic Federal Tax Payment System.

Includes related article on misconceptions about the EFTPS State and local government business taxpayers were required to start making federal tax payments through the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS) on Jul 1, 1997. The EFTPS offers taxpayers various electronic services. These include various payment methods such as automated clearing house debit or credit and same-day wire. EFTPS also allows payments to be made through personal computers or through the telephone. However, taxp...

The perils of benefits outsourcing: a cautionary tale.

Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority's unsuccessful outsourcing process Many US employers suffer from carelessly turning to outsourcing to address their human resources and various benefits without carefully studying the entire outsourcing process. The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA), for instance, adopted benefits outsourcing to improve its budget of benefits and to cut the size of its benefit staff. However, MARTA failed to spend adequate time in the preparatio...

The Public Budget International Association: establishing links with GFOA.

Government Finance Officers Association The Public Budget International Assn (PBIA) is a private nonprofit international organization which was founded with the aim of assisting countries in modernizing processes used in preparing national, provincial and municipal budgets. PBIA is currently translating Government Finance Officers Assn's (GFOA) publications into Spanish and circulating them around the world under a cooperation agreement signed by the two institutions in 1996. GFO representat...

The year 2000: 30 months and counting.

Year 2000 computer transition problem - Includes related article on World Wide Web sites which provide year 2000 assistance The impending year 2000 problem is one of the greatest challenges in the area of information technology which threatens to cause a worldwide financial catastrophe if not addressed properly and immediately. Governments are thus advised to take steps to solve the so-called 'Y2K' problem as soon as possible as the price of computer conversion will increase as the year 2000...