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.
Inflation, tight property tax caps and cooling sales tax revenue are forcing municipalities to cut contracts, raise fees and reduce services.
Approximately 20 percent of households have some amount of medical debt, and they are disproportionately Black and Latino. A few local governments have teamed up with a nonprofit to unburden their residents’ finances.
The Department of Revenue has launched an online system that allows taxpayers to view their state tax obligations and payments. Officials expect the state to save $10 million annually with the new platform.
Health-care systems across the nation are sending inaccessible medical bills and notices to blind Americans, and breaking disability rights laws by doing so. So far, the patients are the ones being punished through lost time and money.
Federal legislation requiring machine-readable reporting has its critics, but it would go a long way toward modernizing how data is collected, used and shared. It also could lower borrowing costs for states and localities.
Inflation is pressuring state and local employers to grant big cost-of-living increases. But they’ll need to keep in mind the prospect of diminishing revenues in coming fiscal years.
The Legislature wants to create a pool of money that will give a minimum of $4,000 to every child born under the state’s Medicaid program. The program would cost about $150 million annually.
The Business Outlook Survey found that 75 percent of respondents believe that the state’s leaders have fallen short in improving affordability for businesses; 82 percent said the state is somewhat unaffordable for companies.
Nearly one-third of state senators sponsored legislation earlier this year to phase out state income tax over the next 10 years, though the bill is unlikely to pass. The state received $10.8 billion from income taxes last year.
The 77 Committee is allowed to accept unlimited funds because it is not bound by the same city ethics rules that the Chicago mayor must abide by. The committee cannot coordinate with Lightfoot or political campaigns.
States and local governments should craft coordinated policies that promote housing construction and first-time ownership. A winning formula includes tax relief for buyers and rebated permit fees for builders.
Ned Lamont and Bob Stefanowski spent more than $30 million, a record-breaking amount. But the high expenditure may trigger a review of the state’s election spending limits.
Maine’s largest city has proposed funding for affordable housing, employee retention bonuses, an addiction medicine program, health care for the homeless and more.
A report from the University of Alaska Center for Economic Development found that, for the last seven years, the state has performed “at or near the bottom” in employment growth, unemployment, net migration and GDP.
Voters in San Francisco and Berkeley, Calif., approved new taxes on vacant dwellings. Meant to tame speculation and increase supply for renters, the measures have raised revenue in other cities but the impact on housing markets remains unclear.
Some workers are forced to turn down a raise to avoid losing eligibility for public assistance benefits or they may receive a pay hike that doesn’t compensate for the lost benefits. These benefit cliffs have widespread effects.
It contributed $13.64 billion to the state’s economy last year, accounting for 152,000 jobs and a 1.6 percent increase in GDP. RV camping contributed the most of all outdoor activities, exceeding $700 million in value.
A statewide clean-energy lending program in Ohio stalled last year before making any loans. Lawmakers want to add consumer protections in case the program resurfaces.
States are sending billions out to households in one form or another. But states don’t print money; they just shuffle it around. The payments amount to a rounding error in the overall inflation picture.
On Monday, Nov. 7, the city’s aldermen voted on whether to pass Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s 2023 budget, which had received some pushback for not including funding for a Department of the Environment and including annual raises for future mayors.
The race for the state’s 26th Legislative District has attracted more money than any other legislative contest; already PACs across the state have spent more than $12 million this year. Here’s where and why the money is flowing.
The Georgia governor’s plan to pay the state’s most economically vulnerable residents $350 cash payments has been fraught with issues, such as scams, data privacy violations, politics and more.
This year’s campaign cycle has reached $23 million, a record for the state’s gubernatorial race. About 90 percent and 40 percent of incumbent Janet Mills’ and Paul LePage’s spending, respectively, have gone to out-of-state vendors.
The Republican-led effort lowered the county’s property tax rate and will result in the elimination of approximately 560 vacant positions, postpone a sheriff deputy cadet class and delay some flood control projects.
The U.S. is one of the most expensive countries in the world for building transit, according to the Transit Costs Project. A research group at the NYU Marron Institute of Urban Management is working to understand why.
Last year’s federal infrastructure bill allotted $62 billion to bolster and update the nation’s electric grid, which could result in $9.2 million annually to Louisiana for the next five years if the state’s application is approved.
The state alleges both the Republican Governors Association and A Stronger Alaska, an independent expenditure group funded by the RGA, are illegally spending money to support Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s re-election.
The state is on track to overtake Germany, surpassing the United Kingdom, France and Brazil. In the past three years, the state’s corporate revenues have risen 147 percent and the market capitalization has increased 117 percent.
Tax-exempt issuers’ costs have shifted upward dramatically this year as the Federal Reserve has pushed interest rates higher to fight inflation. It’s time to re-strategize debt management programs.
The ongoing drought has raised costs, making it increasingly difficult for more than 13 million low-income households across the state to afford water. Many are looking for officials to take action.
Across the nation, the poverty rate among adults 65 and older rose to 10.7 percent last year, the only age group that saw an increase. In Los Angeles County, homelessness in adults 55 and older has risen 20 percent since 2017.
