Revenue Sharing and Regionalism— the Need for Coordination

• Author: Peter S. Levi
• Published date: 01 January 1974
• Date: 01 January 1974
• DOI: 10.1177/027507407400800107
• Subject Matter: Articles

59

society,

then

such

actions

as

have

occurred

must

boggle

the

mind.

Even

if

the

categorical

funds

should

be

released

tomorrow,

the

delaying

influence

of

the

past

several

months

could

surely

not

be

overcome.

Chalk

up

a

big

&dquo;Negative&dquo;

for

GRS

impact

on

the

Nation.

On

the

Future

In

an

assessment

of

GRS

impact,

probably

the

brightest

spot

of

all

lies

in

the

future.

This

must

be

the

case,

since

few

bright

spots

in

the

past

can

be

identified.

The

important

impact

is

the

establishment

of

a

concept.

The

federal

government

can

provide

money

to

local

government;

local

government

can

assess

its

needs

and

establish

its

priorities;

the

amount

of

red

tape

can

be

significantly

reduced.

The

problem

then

must

lie

in

the

amount

of

resources

which

are

committed

to

the

program.

This

question

must

be

addressed

if

the

anticipated

results

are

to

be

measurable.

Summary

In

reviewing

my

comments,

it

may

appear

that

I

am

being

overly

critical

of

the

General

Revenue

Sharing

Program.

In

a

somewhat

paternal.

istic

vein,

I

intend

to

be,

for

I

believe

that

a

great

potential

does

exist.

The

newborn

program

is

taking

its

first

wobbly

steps

as a

two

year

old,

and

perhaps,

like

an

over-anxious

parent,

I

expect

too

much.

Only

by

such

expectations

will

reality

come

to

pass,

and

it

is

my

hope

that

a

&dquo;Positive

Impact

Statement&dquo;

will

be

possible

on

its

fifth

birthday.

Revenue

Sharing

and

Regionalism—

the

Need

for

Coordination

PETER

S.

LEVI

Deputy

Director

and

General

Counsel

Mid-America

Regional

Council

(Kansas

City

Region)

Is

it

possible

that

the

form

and

intent

of

federal

revenue

sharing,

as

well

as

the

administrative

implementation

of

this

important

fiscal

legis-

lation,

violate

principles

of

sound

planning

and

management

which

have

previously

been

an

integral

part

of

federal

legislation

dealing

with

pro-

grams

of

state

and

municipal

importance?

This

thesis

of

this

governmental

inconsistency

is

based

upon

the

fact

that

revenue

sharing,

as

presently

conceived

and

implemented,

dis-

*B. A.

Northwestern

University,

1966;

J. D.

1969,

LL. M.

Urban

Legal

Affairs

I 19711,

University

of

Missouri-Kansas

City.