Government Finance Review articles from August 2000

Government Finance Review archives from August 2000

Senate Defeats Bond Cap Increase.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2000... Legislation to provide a full and immediate increase in the private activity bond cap has been derailed in the Senate. The proposed increase, designed to provide tax relief to distressed communities, was rejected when the Senate failed to...

Pennsylvania County Saves through Privatization.(Venango County)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2000... By switching to a private appraisal firm to implement their property tax assessment system, Venango County, Pennsylvania, estimates that it will save up to $1 million--a cost savings of 33 percent. In January 1998, the county signed a five-year...

Dot.coms Race to Serve the Public.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2000... Although few town administrators and residents are aware of it, every town in the United States already has been Web enabled, at least in terms of a few simple business functions such as paying a parking ticker or paying property taxes. Both...

e-Filing Gains Momentum.(electronic income tax filing)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2000... The California Franchise Tax Board points out that electronic filing of state income taxes jumped 54 percent from last year. Although they include both filing via telephone (telefile) and on-line tax filing as "e-filing," the numbers are still...

Former Cop Sues City for Post-traumatic Stress.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2000... The Austin, Texas, police officer who fired the fatal shot that ended the life of Charles Whitman, the sniper who climbed the University of Texas at Austin Tower in 1966 and shot 16 people dead, is suing the city for worker's compensation. He...

Virginia Escalates e-Gov Efforts.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2000... With the issuance of Executive Order 65, Virginia's governor jump-starred the state's electronic government efforts by creating the Electronic Government Implementation Division. Operating under the Department of Technology Planning, the new...

Alaska Voters Go to Polls to Limit Taxes.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2000... Influenced by the success of California's Proposition 13, a coalition of Alaska voters has placed an initiative on the fall ballot aimed at capping property taxes in the state. If passed, the initiative would limit local property taxes to 1...

California Assembly Passes Net Tax, Voting Bills.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2000... California lawmakers have introduced two new technology-related bills. The first clarifies the issue of nexus (i.e., the physical presence requirement for collecting sales tax) by requiring California retailers to collect and remit sales taxes...

Hangin' at the e-Mall.(online purchasing for Washington State agencies)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2000... In an effort to economize on staff time and spending, the State of Washington has initiated a new on-line project at emall.dis.wa.gov. Here at the state's "e-mail," purchasers from approximately 250 state, county, and city agencies can shop for...

Digital Signatures Nearly Dry.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2000... With the passage by the U.S. House of Representatives of the conference report on S.761 ("Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act") digital signatures will soon be as legal and binding as those of ink on paper. The bill reads,...

Tennessee Debates Statewide Income Tax.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2000... During the last weeks of June, efforts to finalize the budget in the state of Tennessee resulted in a near government shut down as the governor vetoed a budget bill that did not contain the income tax he wanted. The governor was pushing for a...

Private Pension Plans Allowing Greater Flexibility.(Brief Article)
August 1, 2000... A small but growing number of private-sector retirement plans now are offering "self-directed brokerage," which enables employees in a 401(k) plan to invest in individual stocks. One firm found that of the 250 companies it surveyed, 5 percent...

Survey Indicates State and Local Retirement Plans in Great Shape.(analysis of results of Public Pension Coordinating Council research)
August 1, 2000... A new survey finds that state and local pension systems continue to show financial strength. Retirement systems have a funding ratio of almost 96 percent, and annual pension costs as a percentage of payroll are dropping. This article examines...

Cities in the 21st Century: The Forces of Change.(six areas of change affecting municipal government)
August 1, 2000... Demographic and economic trends are shaping the way that cities will do business in the future. In this article, the author highlights the trends that he believes will have the greatest impact on cities in the coming years. Dynamic changes...

Balance Your Project.(financial management strategies)
August 1, 2000... A balanced approach to project selection and management offers project managers the chance to recognize and capture hidden value in discrete projects. Editor's note: This article originally appeared in the May 2000 issue of Strategic...

Measuring Debt Capacity: The Washington County, Maryland Experience.
August 1, 2000... Using a case study of Washington County, Maryland, this article examines the steps necessary for benchmarking and measuring debt capacity. In November 1999, the Research Center of the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) was...

Best Value and Performance Management: Lessons Learned from the United Kingdom.
August 1, 2000... In 1999, the United Kingdom introduced a new agenda aimed at modernizing local government. At the heart of this agenda is the British government's new performance management initiative--"Best Value." Local governments in North America can take...

Creating Value through World-class Financial Management.
August 1, 2000... What enables an organization to achieve an excellent level of financial management? In order to answer that question, the General Accounting Office conducted a study of nine leading public and private-sector finance organizations to identify...

Meet the New President-elect and Executive Board Members.(Government Finance Officers Association election winners)
August 1, 2000... This spring, Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) members selected by mail ballot a president-elect and five new members-at-large of the GFOA Executive Board. The association is governed by the 18-member Executive Board, which...

Identifying Major Funds: An Analytical Process.
August 1, 2000... GASB Statement No. 34--heralded by many as a significant step in the evolution of government financial reporting-includes two broad types of financial statement changes. One is the new, never-before-required government-wide financial...

Strategic Planning in the Finance Department: The Experience of Raleigh, North Carolina.
August 1, 2000... Although most governments develop their goals through formal documents like multi-year capital improvement plans, comprehensive plans, and task-force reports, the planning activities of their finance departments often are much less organized....

The GFOA's Technology Resource Group.(Government Financial Officers Association)
August 1, 2000... Technology is advancing so rapidly that few can keep up with it. It has become so pervasive in our daily lives that it is easy to take for granted. New hardware and software developments are changing how we shop, how we bank, how we learn, and...

Congress Debates Moratorium on Internet Taxation.
August 1, 2000... In 1998, the U.S. Congress enacted the Internet Tax Freedom Act (Public Law 105-277). The Act established a three-year moratorium (until October 2001) on the imposition of new state and local taxes on Internet access, as well as on multiple or...

A Future Perfect: The Challenge and Hidden Promise of Globalization.(Review)
August 1, 2000... By Micklethwait, John and Wooldridge, Adrian New York, NY: Crown Business, 2000. (386 pages) Reviewed by Nick Greifer, Manager, GFOA Research Center, Chicago, Illinois. A Future Perfect is a clearly written introduction to...

The Race For The World: Strategies To Build A Great Global Firm.(Review)
August 1, 2000... By Fraser, Jane; Oppenheim, Jeremy; and Rall, Wilhelm Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 1999. (364 pages) Reviewed by Brennan Schwarz, Policy Analyst, GFOA Research Centers Chicago, Illinois. The geographic boundaries that...

Tax Subsidies for Footloose Firms: Two New Reasons to Stop.(economic development planning)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2000... If you're dubious about the gusher of state and local government subsidies to footloose private corporations, take heart. Right now there are two powerful new reasons to cut back dramatically on the losses--by some estimates as high as $15...