Taxes
Covering topics such as bonds, cryptocurrency, federal aid and pensions.
Now 25,000 members strong, financially secure and long blessed with thoughtful leadership, the Government Finance Officers Association is poised to address the challenges to come for those who manage the public purse.
A University of Idaho-led team, one of 34 semi-finalists for the largest ever grant program from the National Science Foundation, hopes to improve communication across sectors to better address climate change.
The California city will use the state funds over the next three years for outreach, case management, rapid-rehousing assistance, meal vouchers, health-care coordination, hiring a new city social worker and more.
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.
A new state law caps class sizes from kindergarten through third grade at 20 students, fourth through eighth grade at 23 and high school classes at 25. To implement the law, the city will need to employ an additional 17,700 teachers.
Attractive investment returns could accompany economic development if local public pension systems join forces with angel investors to capitalize on a marketplace void.
The White House has announced the single largest infusion of funds into the Continuum of Care program, while also including grants for legal services and job training for veterans and “boot camps” for VA medical centers and public housing agencies.
California legislators agreed to provide additional operating support for transit agencies facing big budget gaps. San Francisco area lawmakers are looking to raise bridge tolls to make up some of the difference.
The $380 million plan will turn a portion of the Marin County, Calif., prison into a Scandinavian-inspired rehabilitation center, including a new education and vocation space. However, the plan does not commit to a set number of prison closures.
The state will devote nearly $150 million to overhauling the state’s reading and writing instruction to improve poor reading test scores. Advocates believe it to be a long-term commitment to students.
The expansion of the Deferred Retirement Option Program will allow career government workers and educators to draw pensions while continuing to work for eight to 10 years but will cost the state an additional $350 million annually.
The costs of treating cancer are soaring, just at a time when some states are moving to save money by cutting Medicaid enrollment. It’s sure to worsen health-care inequality.
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.
Hackers managed to break into CalPERS and CalSTRS, the two California retirement systems, and have stolen Social Security numbers, birth dates and other sensitive information for 769,000 retirees. The attack came from a breach in a contractor’s cybersecurity system.
The federal infrastructure dollars are available, but it’s unclear whether small-town water systems that need the money most will get help.
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