Finance
Managing public finance has become a demanding aspect of state and local government, especially as economic health fluctuates and outside forces create revenue instability. Articles on taxes, budgets, pensions and bonds help to bring insight to finance management at the state and local level.
City officials won state approval to sell $125 million in short-term bonds to cover payroll for nearly 5,000 workers through the end of the year.
A task force has recommended making cash payments to the descendants of American slaves to address over-policing, mass incarceration, housing discrimination and health disparities. But a majority of voters oppose the idea.
They are a key source of funding for transportation infrastructure, but have been shrinking for years. Two new reports explore possible alternatives.
Many Americans are at risk of outliving their retirement savings. State pension plans could have a new role: selling longevity insurance. It could even save states money in the long run.
Governments need to balance expected returns on their invested cash with the costs of their bonds and other obligations. Shifting a portion of their long-term debt from fixed to floating rate is a way to hedge interest rate risk.
The account run by the Federal Emergency Management Agency covering emergency aid for disasters is projected to have a $4.8 billion shortfall by the end of the month. But replenishing the fund is proving to be politically challenging.
The state’s Division of Motor Vehicles will now take online payments of cryptocurrency through PayPal for drivers’ licenses, identification cards, vehicle registrations or other online services.
With little in local tax revenue to help pay staff, rural Texas sheriffs are often forced to do more with less. Lawmakers hope a new grant program will help rebuild the ranks of rural law enforcement.
The U.S. Forest Service is distributing $1 billion to help communities protect themselves from wildfires, but congressional deadlines forced the first round of funding out in a hurry. For the next round, officials want to be more proactive.
An online resource now being built out has the potential to become an important intellectual hub for public-sector investment practitioners. They need to articulate what they most want to find there.
The city’s Revenue Stabilization Workgroup was tasked with crafting progressive taxes. Here’s what they came up with.
An independent consultant reported that the problematic rollout of the new payroll software system could be tied to a lack of IT involvement, communication and planning from the county’s own staff.
The Mendocino County board of supervisors decided to use more than $63,000 of opioid settlement funds, approximately 6.5 percent of the total the county received in the first two years of distribution, to fill a $6 million budget shortfall.
The state has the fifth-highest average amount of debt per undergraduate for the class of 2020 and approximately 15 percent of residents have some form of student debt. For many, their way of living will change when payments resume next month.
Private credit has gained a growing share of pension portfolios over the past decade. It’s time to take a second look under the hood.
A budget document shows that Montgomery County’s Democratic Central Committee hasn’t paid the federal government thousands of dollars in fines and fees for unpaid taxes in 2017 and 2018.
Volunteer Florida reported that $32.5 million of the money was awarded in grants to groups such as the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army. Another $4 million was set aside for a small-business recovery program.
Current government budgeting processes are not up to the demands of a world where the future looks less and less like the past.
It’s the only city in the U.S. to own an interstate railway. Now Cincinnati wants to sell to Norfolk Southern and create an infrastructure trust fund. But first, voters need to give the plan their OK.
The Legislature killed a school funding bill after it was tied to a contentious school voucher plan that would use public funds for private schools, forcing districts to lay off staff and new buses to afford teacher raises.
It is irresponsible and dangerous for politicians to dictate which investments public asset managers must favor. States, municipalities and public pensions are paying higher interest rates on bonds and getting poorer returns on investments.
Inflation rates are coming down, but state and local labor costs will be sticky, as will public-employee health-care expenses. Overall, though, it’s a better outlook for pension funding and astute government cash managers.
State Republican lawmakers, the powerful petroleum lobby and the public pension funds targeted by the bill oppose the measure that would divest the state’s retirement funds and sell nearly $15 billion in assets.
More than a dozen states have debated or passed legislation to better define charity care, to increase transparency about the benefits that nonprofit hospitals provide or to set minimum financial thresholds for charitable care.
The city spends roughly $1 of every $5 on pensions while more than 80 percent of property tax dollars go towards retirement payouts. In November, the city had no junk ratings for the first time since 2015.
County administrators realized too late that they needed to renew the local gas tax for another 30 years. Once the current law expires on Aug. 31 the tax won’t be renewed until Jan. 1, costing the county about $18 million.
Attractive investment returns could accompany economic development if local public pension systems join forces with angel investors to capitalize on a marketplace void.
After years of consideration, the city council has voted to fund a feasibility study to create a public bank that would offer opportunities for affordable housing, green energy and wealth creation that private banks overlook.
State lawmakers must develop a plan for dealing with a potential multibillion-dollar budget hole that stems from misuse of COVID-era funds for unemployment benefits. But some still believe there could be room for tax cuts.
Most American households don’t save enough for retirement, so some states are pushing private employers to make it easier through state-sponsored payroll withholding plans. Getting the structure and strategy right is crucial.
A new book by Yale law professor David Schleicher explores the benefits and drawbacks of various responses to state and local debt crises. It’s a trilemma that leaders will face again and again, Schleicher says.
