Government Finance Review articles from April 1997

Government Finance Review archives from April 1997

Stable financing for a stable water supply. (Metropolitan Water District of Souther California's financing plan)
April 1, 1997... In 1995, the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California updated its long-range finance plan to ensure an adequate water supply, stable rates to customers, and efficient and cost-effective financing of its capital and operating programs....

Income tax compliance: a unique experiment in Minnesota. (Minnesota Department of Revenue's experiment)
April 1, 1997... A controlled experiment yielded a rough but realistic estimate of the portion of the tax gap that is truly recoverable through increased voluntary compliance. Editor's note: The Federation of Tax Administrators (FTA) presented its 1996 Award...

Selling school taxes and bond issues to a generationally diverse electorate: lessons from Florida referenda.
April 1, 1997... Can the old conventional wisdom about gaining voter approval of local education-related tax and bond proposals be relied on in jurisdictions with larger-than-average senior citizen populations? In the past five years, one-quarter of the school...

Consolidation of school system and general government functions in Fauquier County, Virginia.
April 1, 1997... Aimed at long-term efficiencies, the consolidation produced immediate modest reductions in staff and expenditures and a significant increase in productivity in facilities maintenance and financial reporting. School districts in Virginia are...

Overpricing of municipal escrow purchases: yield burning issues and potential liabilities. (case involving the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority)
April 1, 1997... Based on expert studies showing investment providers' systematic overpricing of advance refunding investments, the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority's legal action against its former financial advisor alleges that one of...

Simplified gainsharing within a traditional line-item budget. (municipal governance in Dallas County, TX)
April 1, 1997... Dallas County, Texas, has historically been a stable, successful, and financially strong county with a tradition of outstanding credit ratings (AAA/Aaa), low taxes, high citizen satisfaction, longevity among elected officials and senior...

Final GASB guidance on investment valuation. (Governmental Accounting Standards Board)
April 1, 1997... The Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) recently released Statement No. 31, Accounting and Financial Reporting for Certain Investments and for External Investment Pools, which will substantially alter how governments report investments...

The demise of Massachusetts County government?
April 1, 1997... "Elect me as county commissioner, and I will end county government for good!" "Elect me, and I will eliminate my job." These are not typical political statements for persons running for elective office, but they have been the theme of recent...

Start studying: the first GFOA certification exam. (Government Finance Officers Association)
April 1, 1997... On April 25, 1997, public finance officials will assemble in seven cities to take the GFOA certification program's Accounting, Auditing, and Financial Reporting Examination - the first of five exams to be offered for becoming a Certified Public...

Small cities overcome hurdles to win budget award. (winners in the 1996 Government Finance Officers Association's Distinguished Budget Presentation Awards Program)
April 1, 1997... The GFOA's Distinguished Budget Presentation Awards Program is dedicated to improving governmental budgeting by evaluating operating budgets against a list of mandatory and general criteria. In 1996, 633 awards were distributed. Preparing a...

Stunting the CPI would help slow spending but hinder revenues. (Consumer Price Index)
April 1, 1997... A downward revision in the nation's key inflation measurement, the Consumer Price Index (CPI), would be a two-edged sword for public finance. That is, programs whose spending would be slowed in line with the revised formula would save billions of...

Statistical agencies: a comparison of the U.S. and Canadian statistical systems.
April 1, 1997... Editor's note: A snapshot of how the statistical systems are organized in the U.S. and Canada was presented to the Committee on the Budget of the House of Representatives in August 1996 by the U.S. General Accounting Office. The report was in...

Social security in the 105th Congress.
April 1, 1997... As Congress heads into its 105th legislative session, one hot issue is the future financial solvency of the Social Security system. While Congress and President Clinton will be focusing on balancing the budget before tackling such issues as...

Logging on to electronic means of payment.
April 1, 1997... Debit cards, smart cards, electronic cash, electronic checks - all of these electronic means of payment (EMOP) - are now coming into use. Slowly, they are beginning to replace paper checks and paper cash. Electronic means of payment are a big...

Purchasing an information system: application software. (tips for local government officials)
April 1, 1997... Editor's note: The following is reprinted from Manager's Guide to Purchasing an Information System, by Roscoe Sandlin and published in 1996 by the International City/County Management Association (ICMA). The guide is prepared for the local...

Teams in Government: A Handbook for Team-Based Organizations.
April 1, 1997... Reviewed by Mary Christine Jackman, assistant director of finance, City of Cleveland, Ohio. Remember when we were all young and naive? We thought that we could reinvent government by next week at the very latest. We are much older and wiser...

The Handbook of Investment Technology: A State-of-the-Art Guide to Selection, Implementation, and Utilization.
April 1, 1997... Reviewed by D. Kent Rock, city treasurer, City of Boise, Idaho, and member of GFOA's Committee on Cash Management. One of the great imponderables of our time is how to know if one is going to receive what is expected from a major software...

Organizational Surveys: Tools for Assessment and Change.
April 1, 1997... Reviewed by Greg C. Gaskins, deputy finance director, City of Charlotte, North Carolina. In recent years, many governmental organizations have discovered the need for better information about their employees, customers, and environment in...