Government Finance Review articles from August 2005

Government Finance Review archives from August 2005

Predictive leadership for a rapidly changing world.(president's message)
August 1, 2005... As your new president, I look forward to working with you and sharing ideas about the future of our profession and GFOA. I am honored by this appointment and consider this a great time to serve you as president. I want to work with you and give...

Expanding the Frontiers of Government Finance: 2005 annual conference recap.(NEWS & NUMBERS)
August 1, 2005... Downtown San Antonio and its famed river served as an ideal setting for GFOA's 99th annual conference, which was one of the best-attended conferences in our history. More than 7,800 attendees gathered in San Antonio for the four-day event held...

Meet your new president-elect and Executive Board members.
August 1, 2005... GFOA is governed by the 18-member Executive Board, which consists of 15 members-at-large serving staggered three-year terms, the current president, the previous year's president, and the president-elect. At the association's annual business...

Stale-dated checks ripe for fraud, investigation finds.
August 1, 2005... A recent investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maryland has uncovered a novel type of fraud whereby local governments are recruited to be unwitting co-conspirators in their own losses. The fraud involves...

NYC receives highest ever rating from Standard and Poor's.
August 1, 2005... Standard and Poor's has raised its rating on New York City's more than $32 billion of general obligation debt outstanding to A+ from A--the highest rating Standard and Poor's has ever assigned to the city's debt. In upgrading New York's credit...

Letter to the editors.(Letter to the Editor)
August 1, 2005... As always, I looked forward to my latest edition of the Government Finance Review from the GFOA, but did not expect to be utterly entranced by it! As I opened it and promptly went to the feature on the UK's CIPFA FM Model, alas, there is the...

The Central Post Office: making your life easier and the market more efficient.
August 1, 2005... Providing financial information to bondholders after the original issuance remains a confusing exercise for many state and local governments. However, a new initiative greatly facilitates the disclosure process for the issuers that must file...

Understanding municipal derivatives.
August 1, 2005... The derivatives market for municipal market borrowers has been steadily growing since the market's inception in the mid-1980s. A significant number of state and local governments, ranging from many of the major cities, states, and statewide...

Auction rate securities: a primer for finance officers.
August 1, 2005... The auction rate securities market has expanded significantly in the public finance sector since 2001. Nationwide, issuance of auction rate securities, including the public finance sector, grew from $100 billion in the first quarter of 2002 to...

Navigating the municipal bond market.
August 1, 2005... With debt issuance continuing to reach peak levels, local governments--particularly small to midsize issuers--are being bombarded with information and inquiries about opportunities in the tax-exempt market. Local governments preparing to issue...

The road to fiscal sustainability: five principles of effective financial planning.
August 1, 2005... Many different organizations have promulgated best practices for the government finance profession, including the International City Managers Association (ICMA), the National Advisory Council for State and Local Budgeting (NACSLB), the...

Priming the revenue pump: Little Rock's business license collection program.
August 1, 2005... One of the realities of local government finance is that taxpayers are reluctant to increase tax rates to fund government operations. Another is that natural revenue growth often does not generate the resources needed to sustain existing...

Optimizing funds with cash flow forecasting: by involving operating departments in planning and prioritizing organization-wide spending in light of cash receipts, governments can avoid the costs of short-term borrowing and/or liquidating long-term investments.(Best Practices)
August 1, 2005... In a study published in the August 2003 issue of Government Finance Review, 51 percent of the government finance professionals surveyed indicated a need for further developing their forecasting skills. Among the most important applications of...

How much retirement can you afford? As retirement approaches, financial planning shifts from resource accumulation to resource use. A good retirement planning budget is the last piece of the retirement planning puzzle--one that deserves significant attention.(Management & Careers)
August 1, 2005... With the leading edge of the 77 million strong baby boomer generation within three years of Social Security and six years of Medicare eligibility, the press has been paying noticeably more attention to retirement issues. Numerous newspaper...

YieldAdvantage: bringing efficiency to GFOA members: the process of investing funds can be time-consuming and labor intensive. GFOA's newest service, an Internet based auction platform called YieldAdvantage, streamlines the investment process and drives up yields.(Solutions)
August 1, 2005... As a member-driven association, GFOA supports state and local government finance officers in the professional financial management of the governments they serve. GFOA accomplishes this by identifying best practices in public financial...

Protecting tax-exempt bonds and tax incentives: a recent appeals court decision and the ongoing debate over tax reform at the federal level have raised serious concerns in the public finance community about the future of tax incentives and tax-exempt bonds.(Federal Focus)
August 1, 2005... Building infrastructure and attracting business are two of the most basic objectives of local governments. For many years, tax-exempt debt and tax incentives have been the primary tools for achieving these objectives. Understandably, recent...

Pollution remediation obligations: the GASB's preliminary views document on accounting and financial reporting for pollution remediation obligations marks a departure from traditional accounting practice.(The Accounting Angle)(Governmental Accounting Standards Board )
August 1, 2005... Earlier this year, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board offered its "preliminary views" on Accounting and Financial Reporting for Pollution Remediation Obligations. The GASB defines a pollution remediation obligation as "an obligation to...

Turning around America's most unpopular institution.(Many Unhappy Returns: One Man's Quest to Turn Around the Most Unpopular Organization in America)(Book Review)
August 1, 2005... Many Unhappy Returns: One Man's Quest to Turn Around the Most Unpopular Organization in America Published by Harvard Business School Press www.hbsp.harvard.edu 2005; 336 pages, $26.95 Charles Rossotti's Many Unhappy Returns focuses...

Calendar.(Calendar)
August 1, 2005... [gfoa events] August Chicago, Illinois 8-12 Governmental Accounting Bootcamp--"Accounting and Auditing for State and Local Governments: A Comprehensive Introduction" Madison, Wisconsin 15-19 Advanced Government Finance...

Collaborate or collapse--tough New England message.(Commentary)
August 1, 2005... Call it, if you will, the American way: thousands of tiny little governments, each with its own council, each in command of its own tax collector, police and fire chiefs, emergency call center, road crews, park and library staffs--and more. ...