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.
Providers report denial rates up to 17.5 percent. To cope with the mounting financial pressure, some small clinics have stopped accepting Medicaid altogether.
The Broward County city’s mayor and commissioners voted unanimously on Aug. 23 to give themselves raises, increasing the mayor’s and commissioners’ salaries by 166 percent and 156 percent, respectively.
The Chicago Transit Authority is hoping to finally make good on a promise to expand a subway line to the southern edge of the city. First it needs the City Council to agree to a plan for raising billions of dollars to support the project.
Roads and water infrastructure top the list of local priorities, but broadband expansion and clean energy projects are proving popular as cities face increased demand for these newer technologies.
If approved, residents would vote on their fourth bond program in less than two decades. The $1 billion program would help pay for better streets and city infrastructure, including $150 million for housing.
With government workers’ pay raises lagging the private sector’s, state and local officials will need to navigate through different measures of inflation to fairly calibrate wage and pension increases.
The nonpartisan group Tax Foundation ranked the state’s tax climate as the 28th best in the nation while the Council on State Taxation found the state to have the highest tax burden on business inputs nationwide.
The first round of payment distributions for taxpayer funds will happen on Aug. 15. But there is concern that the more than $8 million won’t be enough to pay all the candidates who qualify for public matching between now and February.
New incentives included in the Manchin-Schumer “Inflation Reduction Act” could help overcome range anxiety and cost concerns. Meanwhile, states are submitting plans to spend millions of federal dollars on EV charging networks.
A proposal to provide middle-income residents with stimulus checks of $250 failed to pass the state’s Legislature. But House Speaker Ronald Mariano is determined that tax relief is “going to happen” this year.
A long-running lawsuit alleging collusion in the securities lending industry may be heading for class-action status. That could be a big deal not only for pension funds nationwide but also for the future of a $2.5 trillion marketplace.
A new study found that key goods, such as gasoline, used vehicles and natural gas prices, were impacted more by inflation in the Boston metropolitan area than the rest of the nation. Inflation in the state has hit a 40-year high.
Small businesses and those owned by women and people of color don’t receive a fair share of government contracting. With infrastructure money flowing, now is the time for public agencies to take a pledge to improve procurement practices.
Women who have more choices when it comes to pregnancy are more likely to attend college, stay in the workforce and stay out of poverty. Women who are denied abortions are four times more likely to be poor five years later.
Several other states are offering residents some form of tax relief to help deal with the financial strains of inflation, but Alabama has nothing planned and the Legislature doesn’t reconvene until March.
The bill includes $250 one-time rebates and tax breaks for families, seniors and low-income households to help residents offset rising inflation costs. But the Senate and House must find compromise before the session ends on July 31.
Just months after the fundraising limits of $500 per individual were lifted, gubernatorial candidates from all parties have reported substantial, six-figure donations from wealthy supporters.
They disproportionately impact low-income residents. “Segmenting” them — setting prices based on ability to pay — can improve lives while actually increasing local-government revenues.
It’s just as important when revenues are robust as it is in tough fiscal times to base spending decisions on what works. Here’s how to get started.
The state is receiving $119 million from the U.S. Treasury’s State Small Business Credit Initiative and will invest in supporting women and minority entrepreneurs as well as businesses that focus on cleaner energy and climate resiliency.
State and local finance teams need game plans for two divergent outcomes of the Federal Reserve’s efforts to wring inflation out of the economy: a soft-landing slowdown or a more severe downturn.
Most of the remaining funds have been earmarked by cities, townships and counties for community projects to address broadband access, housing, workforce development and other needs. But some worry about the debt repayment.
A new law requires the state’s pension system to divest from fossil fuel companies, but making that happen while considering a constitutional requirement to pension members will complicate the process.
County Executive Ryan McMahon has suggested that the surplus, which has grown to nearly three times the normal reserve, be used to double the New York county’s rainy day fund. But the plan would leave little for spending elsewhere.
Unpaid gas and electric bills piled up during the coronavirus pandemic with nearly one in every six households and thousands of small businesses falling behind in payments. Now state officials are looking for a way to pay the money owed.
Federal prosecutors have opened an investigation into Kwame Kilpatrick in an effort to force repayment of the $1.7 million debt owed to the city and the IRS for a federal racketeering conspiracy case.
If stocks keep declining, the outlook for pension obligation bonds improves. State and local financial teams should prepare now for a cyclical opportunity.
The Department of Environmental Conservation rejected an air permit to the power plant near Seneca Lake that used most of its electricity generation to mine the cryptocurrency. Many see it as an environmental win.
The state Supreme Court has ruled that when counties sell buildings for overdue taxes, any extra money must be returned to the property owners and may not be pocketed by local governments.
Starting next month, customers will notice extra charges on delivery orders, ride-sharing trips and car-share rentals, which are part of a change in transportation funding that will help pay for road and bridge projects.
Clerks have stolen an estimated $1.7 million from 17 towns in the past decade, according to audit reports and restitution orders. And the problem could be worse: 158 towns have gone more than 20 years without a full financial audit.
