Government Finance Review articles from April 2003

Government Finance Review archives from April 2003

A design to match our message. (From the Editors).(new look for Government Finance Review)
April 1, 2003... You've no doubt noticed by now that Government Finance Review has undergone a dramatic face lift since the last issue. What you see is the culmination of our efforts to modernize a publication that has served the public finance profession so...

Committees convene in Washington for Winter Meeting. (News & Numbers).(Government Finance Officers Association annual winter meeting)
April 1, 2003... Frigid temperatures greeted members of GFOA's five standing committees as they convened in Washington, D.C., for the annual Winter Meeting. During the two-day event held January 23-24, committee members addressed a number of policy issues...

State tax systems need overhauling. (News & Numbers).
April 1, 2003... Amid what the National Governors Association has called "the most dire fiscal situation since World War II," Governing magazine in February released the results of a year-long effort to evaluate the tax structures and tax management of the 50...

The Power of the Purse. (News & Numbers).
April 1, 2003... To prevent the breakdowns in corporate ethics and accountability that rocked the financial markets and the economy in 2002, "the age of investor complacency must be replaced by a new era of investor democracy," according to a new report by...

D.C. announces 6th straight budget surplus. (News & Numbers).(District of Columbia)
April 1, 2003... Amid the almost daily reports of dire fiscal conditions for state and local governments, the District of Columbia announced in January that it ended its last fiscal year September 30 with a $27 million surplus--the sixth surplus in as many...

GASB 34 will not affect Moody's credit rating. (News & Numbers).
April 1, 2003... Moody's Investors Service says the implementation of GASB Statement No. 34 will not alter its approach to public finance credit analysis, nor will it directly result in rating changes. The Governmental Accounting Standards Board issued...

New releases. (News & Numbers).('Beyond Budgeting: How Managers Can Break Free from the Annual Performance Trap')(Book Review)
April 1, 2003... Beyond Budgeting: How Managers Can Break Free from the Annual Performance Trap Jeremy Hope and Robin Fraser (Harvard Business School Press, 2003) The traditional annual budgeting process--characterized by fixed targets and...

NIGP study sheds light on government procurement practices. (News & Numbers).(National Institute of Governmental Purchasing's Bid Threshold Benchmarking survey)
April 1, 2003... The National Institute of Governmental Purchasing recently completed its first annual Bid Threshold Benchmarking survey. The purpose of the survey was to test the NIGP's hypothesis that the greater the confidence in the procurement process...

Sizing up the shortfalls: The states in straits.
April 1, 2003... When state officials closed the books on 2002, they ended a year that had been among the worst for state finances in many decades--if not the worst. While the national recession that started early in 2001 was the root cause of these problems,...

A bottoms up approach to deficit reduction: Palo Alto's Strengthening the Bottom Line initiative.
April 1, 2003... Located on the peninsula between San Jose and San Francisco, the City of Palo Alto has a nighttime population of 60,000 that balloons to 150,000 during the weekday. The "birthplace of Silicon Valley," Palo Alto is home to Stanford University...

Bridging the gap: budget balancing in the city of Austin, Texas.
April 1, 2003... A thriving city in the central Texas hill country, Austin is the home of two major institutions: the Texas state capitol and the University of Texas. Through the years, Austin has earned a number of monikers, including the "live music capital...

CFO as budget magician: fiscal illusion in public finance.
April 1, 2003... The strong economy of the past decade flushed the treasuries of many governments. Public officials who focused on tax cuts or "surplus management" initiatives only a short time ago are now facing budget deficits. Periodic economic downturns...

Taking charge of prescription drug costs.
April 1, 2003... Prescription drug costs have risen dramatically over the last several years, gobbling up an increasingly larger percentage of state and local government budgets. In Ohio, a group of school districts formed the Employee Benefits Cooperative to...

Revenue forecasting and analysis in Nassau County, New York.
April 1, 2003... In 1997, the National Advisory Council on State and Local Government Budgeting issued 59 recommended budget practices. According to the NACSLB, "a good budget process incorporates a long-term perspective, establishes linkages to broad...

The remote sales conundrum: where do we stand?
April 1, 2003... Have you ever wondered if orange juice should be taxed as a fruit or as a beverage? Whether some candy bars containing flour should really be classified as cookies? If when visiting a grocery store, a cup size portion of cole slaw accompanied...

Toward better budgeting: using the NACSLB framework as a guide, Kansas City undertook a comprehensive evaluation of its budget process that resulted in 10 recommendations for improvement. (Best Practices).(National Advisory Council on State and Local Budgeting)
April 1, 2003... In December 1997, the National Advisory Council on State and Local Budgeting published 59 recommended practices that have become the model for effective public budgeting. Shortly thereafter, GFOA approved its own recommended practice endorsing...

Managing diversity: A local government perspective. (Management & Careers).
April 1, 2003... Over the past 25 years, the growth rate of the labor force has slowed, resulting in increased immigration to both the United States and Canada. During the same period, the source of new immigrants has also changed, with the growth in the number...

Continuous process improvement and the budget process: GFOA is helping a large city government synchronize its disparate financial planning initiatives in a seamless process that will serve as a model for other governments. (Solutions).
April 1, 2003... The GFOA's Research and Consulting Center has been charged with the task of encouraging the use of the National Advisory Council on State and Local Budgeting's recommended budget practices. We plan to pursue this goal through our annual...

Federal budget a mixed bag for state and local government: The presidents fiscal 2004 budget reduces or even cuts funding for many state and local government programs traditionally funded by the federal government. (Federal Focus).
April 1, 2003... A president's budget is not only a ledger of federal revenues and expenditures, but also a document of purpose--of political as well as fiscal design. Together with the State of the Union address, the president's budget proposal inaugurates...

GASB proposes accrual of postretirement healthcare and similar benefits: The GASB believes other postemployment retirement benefits are a form of employee compensation and thus should be accrued as expense. (The Accounting Angle).(Governmental Accounting Standards Board )
April 1, 2003... The Governmental Accounting Standards Board recently issued an exposure draft proposing that public sector employers be required in the future to accrue the cost of any postretirement healthcare or similar benefits they may offer to employees....

Analytics in public sector decision making. (The Bookshelf).(Book Review)
April 1, 2003... Tools for Decision Making: A Practical Guide for Local Government Published by Congressional Quarterly Press (866) 427-7737 www.cqpressbookstore.com 2002; 252 pages, $29.95 Public managers and finance professionals are...

Calendar.(Calendar)
April 1, 2003... [gfoa events] April Chicago, IL 3-4 internal Auditing for Governments 10-11 Implementing Performance Measurement Systems (Advanced) May New York, NY (Preconference Seminars) 16 Health Care Benefits:...

Cities and homeland security spending: as war unfolds, what now? (Commentary).(Column)
April 1, 2003... "The federal government has trained and equipped our troops for Iraq. But we haven't done the same thing for our first responders at home--our police and fire and emergency personnel. I'm concerned about bioterrorism, about chemical warfare. Or...