Government Finance Review articles from December 1997

Government Finance Review archives from December 1997

Internet commerce and state/local sales taxes.(Editorial)
December 1, 1997... As millions of people increasingly turn to the Internet for the latest information on a multitude of interests as well as communications with friends, families, and business associates, the possibilities seem endless. State and local governments,...

Blowing in from the West: California's disclosure guidelines for land-based securities.
December 1, 1997... Guidelines assist public officials in developing disclosure documents that fulfill their requirements under the law and minimize their exposure to fraud liabilities. Each year the Government Finance Officers Association bestows its prestigious...

Hitting the mark: communicating outcomes to the citizens.
December 1, 1997... The keys to the success of the report card to the community published by the City of Long Beach were the careful selection of comparison cities and of performance measures plus the painstaking collection of benchmarking data. Each year the...

Philadelphia's tax lien sale and securitization.
December 1, 1997... City council's approval of the tax lien sale depended on balancing the city's financial needs with safeguards for low-income homeowners. On June 30, 1997, the City and School District of Philadelphia closed their first securitization of tax...

The good and the bad of voter initiatives.
December 1, 1997... Budgeting and credit quality implications of revenue-limiting initiatives pose an array of management challenges to local governments. The voter initiative process, part of the American landscape for more than 100 years, appears to be enjoying...

Mexico: the economic emergence of the United States' neighbor to the south.
December 1, 1997... What happens to the Mexican economy affects more than just the border states; it impacts the entire U.S. labor market, substantial financial investments, and the physical environment. Author's note: The economic information in this article is a...

State private activity bond volume caps.
December 1, 1997... The inclusion of a provision to lift the decade-old volume cap on the issuance of nonhospital 501 (c)(3) bonds in the Taxpayer Relief Act of 1997 sent two important messages to members of the municipal bond market community seeking an increase in...

A defined contribution plan is a viable alternative to the traditional defined benefit retirement plan.
December 1, 1997... Historically, public-sector employers have embraced the traditional defined benefit retirement (DB) plan as the mechanism to compensate their employees in retirement for many years of loyal service. With the introduction of Section 401(k)...

In defense of the defined benefit plan.
December 1, 1997... The mainstay of public employee retirement income packages has, for decades, been the defined benefit (DB) plan. The DB name is derived from the fact that benefits are defined by the plan, usually expressed as a percentage of salary for some...

Risks in new agency structure.
December 1, 1997... Federal agencies such as the Federal Home Loan Bank System and the Federal Home Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) began issuing zero-coupon bonds in June 1997. Some dealers have been marketing the new Freddie Mac zero-coupon bonds to...

Financing a huge success with an insurance wrap-up.
December 1, 1997... The following article is adapted from the October 1997 issue of Public Risk, the membership magazine of the Public Risk Management Association, and reprinted with permission. On July 29, 1997, the city manager of San Diego presented a check for...

Tying a sensible knot: a practical guide to state-local information systems.
December 1, 1997... Editor's note: This article presents excerpts from Chapters 1 and 2 of a guidebook prepared under the auspices of the New York State Governor's Task Force on Information Resource Management, Local Government Subcommittee. State-local...

Cash management reform in the Czech Republic.
December 1, 1997... The Republic of Czechoslovakia emerged in 1918 with a democratic constitution and able leadership that allowed the republic to thrive, economically and culturally. Czechoslovakia became one of the most industrially advanced countries in Europe,...

Privatization of Illinois municipalities.
December 1, 1997... Editor's note: The following article presents excerpts from Competition for City Services: Has the Time Arrived?, a report of a 1995 survey and comprehensive study of contracting for services and related issues in Illinois municipalities. The...

Safeguarding against errors in pension benefits: a big job at CalPERS. (California Public Employees Retirement System)
December 1, 1997... According to a recent federal government audit, 8 percent of private-sector retirees nationwide who are in fully funded plans that terminate receive a smaller pension check than they are entitled to when they accept lump-sum payments. The audit,...

Reform of Retirement Income Policy: International and Canadian Perspectives.
December 1, 1997... Reviewed by Robert Wayne Gladstone, vice president of Administration, Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System and a member of GFOA's Committee on Retirement and Benefits Administration. The authors of this book provide an update to the...

Municipal Benchmarks: Assessing Local Performance and Establishing Community Standards.
December 1, 1997... Reviewed by Joni L. Leithe, assistant director, Research Center, GFOA. Measuring performance, or benchmarking, in government has garnered much interest in recent times. Performance data, like any other data, are most meaningful when they can...