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.
Most states have seen their collections drop below 15-year trends. Federal actions may also provide a drag on revenue.
The pandemic assistance plan includes more than $2.1 billion in grants and fee waivers for small businesses as well as $600 stimulus payments for residents with an annual salary of $30,000 or less.
A new state transportation proposal would fund road improvements and offset revenue losses caused by the pandemic, but it would require increased fees on gas, bikes, public transit, ferries and ride-hailing trips.
The president's plan would send tens of billions in unrestricted aid to states, including those holding up well. Aid from Washington should target preserving basic services and fighting the pandemic.
Maryland made history last week, becoming the first state in the country to codify a tax on digital ads. The move would have a significant financial impact on big tech, but the bill will probably face multiple legal challenges.
The City Council has authorized $977,000 to help local organizations combat the financial damages of the pandemic. Since April, the city has already approved $3.25 million for COVID response.
Congressional Democrats are pushing the $1.9 trillion package, including stimulus checks, extended unemployment benefits and monthly payments to parents, ahead before pandemic protections expire. Republicans say it’s too expensive.
The Florida city will begin considering using and accepting bitcoin for some of its financial transactions. Mayor Suarez is a strong proponent of the cryptocurrency for the city, but others are worried about its stability.
As a way to keep money in the state’s economy, lawmakers have introduced several proposals that would allow those who mistakenly received unemployment benefit payments to keep the money, instead of returning it.
A one-size-fits-all approach defies local cost-of-living realities. County-based indexing could help avoid losses of jobs and tax revenues, and it could appeal to policymakers on both sides of the rural-urban divide.
The state is paying San Diego prison guards to wear body cameras in an attempt to increase transparency about the treatment of disabled inmates. The facility will also install a surveillance system.
Over the past several decades, spending on jails has grown significantly. As the coronavirus pandemic reduces revenue and forces budget cuts, cutting jail expenditures could save cities and counties billions of dollars.
California State Sen. Mike McGuire has proposed a marketing campaign to boost in-state travel once coronavirus travel restrictions have been lifted. The state’s tourism earns $12.2 billion and employs 1.2 million.
The Fair Political Practices Commission reported a record $1.9 million in penalties last year, one of which amounted to $1.35 million with the L.A. County Board of Supervisors over improper use of public funds.
The county received $47 million in CARES Act funding and nearly lost the last $5 million due to expired time. But with Congress’s extension, the county has until the end of the year to allocate the funds.
The payoff for states and localities from federal infrastructure legislation is likely to be many times more than COVID stimulus aid. Governors and local leaders need to play their cards wisely.
As Gov. Newsom enacted statewide stay-at-home orders that closed and restricted businesses for months, some business owners had to sidestep the rules to make ends meet while risking costly fines and contracting COVID.
With ridership at just 8 percent of its pre-pandemic levels, Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority has been paying some of its workers massive overtime. The MBTA is projecting a budget gap of up to $79 million this fiscal year.
New York counties face spending cuts totalling $163 million from school districts, libraries, nonprofits and human services for low-income families if the multibillion federal aid that Gov. Cuomo is expecting doesn’t happen.
In November, officials estimated a budget shortfall of $86 million, but it turns out the actual numbers are much worse. Now the city must find areas to cut spending to adjust for the 10 percent gap.
States and localities tried for years to figure out ways to tax online sales, without success. The Supreme Court gave them a green light in 2018, which has proven key to surviving the pandemic financially.
The stimulus package would include funding for production and distribution of COVID vaccines, $1,400 checks for Americans and expanded unemployment benefits. Many are eager for the relief, despite the large price tag.
The state’s progressive tax structure is reaping billions from the wealthiest to fund the state’s safety net. But it also reveals how the pandemic has widened the economic gulf for millions of Californians — more than the rest of the country.
While the first round of stimulus checks encouraged spending as workers were adjusting to life at home, many expect the second round of payments will mostly go towards bill payments and savings.
An analysis of the most recent Annual Survey of School Systems Finances data reveals where public elementary-secondary school systems get their funding from and where they spend it.
Working together to create their own alternative to Bitcoin and its copycats could be a way to generate value, at no initial cost, for struggling pension funds. Madisons, anyone?
To install the detectors and screening equipment necessary for a firearms ban, the state would need to spend $1.5 million, which is more than the Capitol Commission’s annual maintenance budget.
The left loves it, and it has proponents nationally and in state legislatures around the country. But soaking the rich is a way to drive the wealthy out and curb entrepreneurship.
With Democrats in control of the Senate and the rest of Washington, further stimulus is a near-certainty. State and local aid, which has been held up by the GOP, will be part of the mix.
The state’s Special Transportation Fund will drop to just over $100 million by the end of this fiscal year, which is not enough to fund the multimillion-dollar transportation projects Gov. Lamont hopes to achieve.
Vaccines, a new presidency, a reshuffled Congress and a pandemic-shifted economy will transfigure the state and local fiscal landscape.
