Government Finance Review articles from August 2007

Government Finance Review archives from August 2007

We can make a difference.(president's message)
August 1, 2007... As an individual with both U.S. and Canadian ancestry, it is an honor to serve as your new president. I look forward to leading the GFOA into its second century of fulfilling its mission of enhancing and promoting the professional management of...

GAO predicts budget challenges ahead for state and local governments.(News & Numbers)(Government Accountability Office)
August 1, 2007... For more than a decade, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has warned of an impending severe structural deficit for the federal government, driven above all by rising costs in Medicare and Medicaid but also by the sheer size of the Baby...

Meet your new president-elect and executive board.
August 1, 2007... The GFOA is governed by an 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 meeting...

Spotlight on financial performance: 2007 Annual Conference recap.(Conference news)
August 1, 2007... The GFOA held its 101st Annual Conference in the City of Anaheim, California. More than 4,100 delegates were in attendance at the Anaheim Convention Center, June 10-13, making this year's conference the largest gathering of finance...

Government finance in the trenches: standing committees update.(Government Finance Officers Association)
August 1, 2007... More than 175 GFOA members volunteer their time and expertise to be a part of the GFOA's standing committees. Each committee concentrates on a particular discipline within government finance. The members of each committee bring their experience...

Innovations in managing public funds: benchmarking and total return.(Cover story)
August 1, 2007... Like most local governments, the City of Los Angeles, California, spent years looking under every budgetary rock in search of more funds for police and fire protection, education, parks, community services, and other important projects. But in...

From cash to card acceptance: transforming routine transactions into extraordinary opportunities.
August 1, 2007... Leading government entities are taking advantage of quickly evolving electronic payment trends to improve revenue collections while reducing costs, particularly through the latest solutions designed for PINless debit and electronic check...

Creating and using a revenue manual: a dynamic tool for analysis.
August 1, 2007... The landscape of local government revenue presents an assortment of challenges and opportunities for public finance officials. The traditional role of the public finance officer has expanded to include fiscal facilitator to local government...

Municipal Way-Fi.
August 1, 2007... Since 2003, the hype and hyperbole surrounding municipal Wi-Fi systems for broadband Internet access has been inescapable. City after city, counties, even consortia of jurisdictions have hopped on the bandwagon to jumpstart wireless...

Liquidity assessments: an alternative financing option for variable-rate debt.
August 1, 2007... An environment of volatile and very high interest rates in the late 1970s and early 1980s led to significant innovations in the municipal debt markets that remain operative today For municipal bond investors, volatile interest rates: translated...

Auditing from a citizen's point of view: the citizen's perspective is often overlooked in traditional audit of government programs. Incorporating the citizen's perspective, where relevant, can make audits a more effective tool for change.(Best Practices)
August 1, 2007... Governments provide programs and services. Auditors look at how well those programs and services are delivered. Often overlooked in a traditional audit is the citizen's perspective: how well and how easily do the programs and services meet the...

City Management Institute: a blueprint for leadership succession: the City of Sacramento's City Management Institute helps it identify and groom future city leaders.(Management & Careers)
August 1, 2007... The City of Sacramento, California, is the state capital and was founded in 1849, and is the oldest incorporated city in the state. It is a city council-city manager form of government, with eight separate council districts. The population is...

Capital project cash flow management: using these tools to manage capital project cash flows can increase investment earnings, reduce borrowing costs, and prevent potentially embarrassing and frustrating cash flow problems.(Solutions)
August 1, 2007... Last minute changes in payment schedules on capital projects can be among the most frustrating and unpredictable complicating factors in effective municipal cash management. Capital projects are by definition big ticket items that have a major...

Supreme court watch: judiciary decisions often impact state and local government finances.(Federal Focus)
August 1, 2007... In each term, the United States Supreme Court is petitioned to consider a number of cases that have a significant impact on the policy, management, and finances of state and local governments. The Supreme Court accepts very few cases for...

Selling or pledging future cash flows: guidance from the Governmental Accounting Standards Board on selling or pledging future cash flows must be implemented starting with fiscal years that end December 31, 2007.(The Accounting Angle)
August 1, 2007... In September 2006, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) issued GASB Statement No. 48, Sales and Pledges of Receivables and Future Revenues and Intra-Entity Transfers of Assets and Future Revenues. The new standard offers...

Time-Driven activity-based costing.
August 1, 2007... Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing Robert S. Kaplan and Steven R. Anderson Publisher: Harvard Business School Press www.HBSPress.org 257 pages, 2007; $45 In the 1980s Kaplan developed activity-based costing (ABC) as a way to measure and...

gfoa events.(Government Finance Officers Association)(Calendar)
August 1, 2007... August Minneapolis, Minnesota 20 Accounting for Pensions and Other Postemployment Benefits (OPEB) 20-21 Budgeting for Budget Analysts 20-21 Economic Development for Finance Officers 21 Enterprise Fund...

State association events.(Government Finance Officers Association)(Brief article)(Calendar)
August 1, 2007... September Illinois GFOA September 7-11 Springfield, IL www.igfoa.org Michigan GFOA September 9-12 Traverse City, MI www.migfoa.org Ohio GFOA September 11-13 Columbus, OH www.ohgfoa.com...

What transformational leaders do: leading a public organization through change requires the executive to find a way to invest significant time, energy, and political capital in the change process.(Commentary)
August 1, 2007... Much has been written about the attributes of leadership. Ability to communicate a vision, courage, and integrity are surely qualities of great leaders. Our experience studying the transformation of public organizations is teaching us that, in...