Taxes and Other Revenues.

• Author: Guajardo, Salomon

"Panel Discussion: The Impact of Initiatives on State and Local Government Finance"

Rueben, Kim; Rust, Kenneth; and McDonough, Kate Municipal Finance Journal, Winter 2000, PP. 18-41.

This article is the written transcription of a panel discussion on initiatives and their impact on state and local governments. The first presenter, Kim Reuben, is an economist with the Public Policy Institute of California. Although some Eastern and Midwest states participate in the initiative process, Reuben describes the initiative process as a Western phenomenon. In California, initiatives are sent straight to the voters for approval. In Eastern and Midwest states, lawmakers can review and amend the initiative before it is sent to the voters. Reuben describes the initiative process as shifting fiscal responsibility from local to state governments, culminating in state limits as opposed to local limits. Reuben concludes by noting that governments have often responded, as was the case in California after Proposition 13, by raising revenues through general taxes to avoid the restrictions set in place by initaitives. Kenneth Rust, the next panelist, is the director of the Bureau of Financial Management for Po rtland, Oregon. Rust describes many initiatives--some that have passed and some that have failed--that have had significant impact on water fees, pension systems, property value assessments, and fixed or variable rate tax levies. He explains that municipalities must take a...