The Future of Finance
Populists are once again advocating the creation of state-owned banks to overcome private-sector lending market failures. But market innovations hold a lot of promise for accomplishing the same goal.
A report has found that low-income households in Detroit spend at least 25 percent of their disposable incomes on water and sewer bills. With inflation, water costs in Detroit have tripled between 1980 and 2018.
St. Louis County’s proposed 2022 budget is $43 million larger than this year’s, amounting to $463 million. The increase is projected to cause a 1.9 percent bump in property taxes.
To deal with a multimillion-dollar deficit, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department cut $99.9 million in overtime. But as crime and homicides increase across the county, officials say that’s not feasible this year.
To accelerate the transition to electric vehicles, every burg along our “blue highways” is going to need a place for motorists to plug in. For states, that means tax credits, matching grants or similar incentives. But we’re not talking big money.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has named three officials to oversee the $3.7 billion in federal infrastructure money, which the state will prioritize for broadband, transportation and water system projects.
Johnson County officials are creating programs that will provide direct payments to residents who were unable to receive pandemic relief funds, including undocumented immigrants. Implementation could begin by March 2022.
Investment policy changes at CalPERS, the giant state retirement system, have lowered its earning target by two-tenths of a percentage point, leading to increased charges for local governments and their workers.
The federal agency determined the state was ineligible for nearly $12 billion in federal grants for public transit. Officials fear that this loss of funding could be detrimental to transit agencies.
After a long wait, the federal infrastructure bill is headed toward President Joe Biden's desk. How can states and local areas take advantage of the $65 billion set aside for broadband? Here are some details.
The $1.2 trillion infrastructure package will give billions to the state in new spending over the next five years. Large swaths of the money will be used to upgrade Alaska’s outdated infrastructure.
The COVID recession and its fiscal aftermath should remind politicians, advocates and labor that budget reserves are not piggybanks for new discretionary spending. Economic cycles have not been repealed.
A newly launched Gender Equity Dashboard shows that the gender pay gap increased by 6 percent between 2016 and 2019 and experts are worried the pandemic has only worsened the divide.
The St. Louis County administration building in Clayton, Mo., requires a $50 million investment to meet current fire codes. It might be cheaper just to demolish the building and move to a new location.
While experts assure inflation levels are not yet deemed hyperinflation, Florida businesses of all kinds are still feeling the impacts of a 5.4 percent increase in prices from last year. But relief could come by mid-2022.
Mayor Ted Wheeler will seek $400,000 to hire back 25 recently retired officers to fill vacancies and $2.6 million for body cameras and a civilian dean of police training. The City Council will vote on the proposal in late November.
Detroit has spent less than $80,000 of the more than $826 million in COVID-19 relief funds it received; the state had spent none of its $6.5 billion by the end of July. Many blame politics for the slow spending.
The city’s Finance Committee has rebuffed three budget amendments that would have redirected $750,000 of the police department’s budget to fund a newly established team of mental health first responders.
Pending municipal finance provisions in the big spending bills before Congress could benefit issuers, investors and taxpayers. To get the best deal, state and local leaders must press their case immediately.
California school districts have two choices: Bite the bullet and make budget cuts now, or delay them and face even more painful decisions.
While some funding will go to update Springfield-Beckley Municipal Airport’s existing infrastructure, the majority of financial investments will build new office and research spaces. Construction will begin in July 2022.
Whether you pay tax on your Halloween treat supply depends on which state you live in and how it defines candy.
Going into next year, the Fed is likely to throttle back policies that have kept rates near zero. That presents opportunities — and risks. Nobody wants to repeat the local government fiscal disasters of not so long ago.
The Public Service Loan Forgiveness program was created to provide relief to public employees who worked a service job for 10 years. The Biden administration announced a program overhaul to help it finally meet its intent.
The pandemic sent municipal revenues into a tailspin. They still haven't fully recovered, but $65 billion from Uncle Sam is easing a lot of pain.
Less than 60 percent of the state’s 1,781 townships have requested their share of the American Rescue Plan Act funds. Treasury Department officials are urging local governments to apply for funds before the Oct. 4 deadline.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has issued a notice to lawmakers that they cannot use the state budget to restrict the funds of local health departments that institute local mask mandates; doing so would violate the state constitution.
The increase is the first in a series that will eventually raise the state’s wage to $15 an hour. The wage raise is the first in the country to be approved by ballot measure, which was passed by 61 percent of voters.
As state and local debt continues to rise, governments may be forced to raise taxes or cut spending to control their budgets. New York has the most per capita government debt, largely due to school district debts.
The state has already spent $200 million over its emergency fund budget for the entire fiscal year that started in July. While some of the bill will be paid by state agencies, taxpayer dollars will also be used.
