Government Finance Review articles from December 1999

Government Finance Review archives from December 1999

From the President.(Column)
December 1, 1999... Dear Members: Before the gavel even reached my hands, you, the members, presented me with what promises to be one of the major challenges of my presidency in the form of a strongly worded resolution opposing the Governmental Accounting...

Another Y2K Alert.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... Just when you thought all of the Y2K issues were finally under control, experts are reporting that virus writers and hackers are now trying to take advantage of the millennium chaos. Industry experts warn of the potential for hundreds of...

Senate to Simplify Wireless Telephone Taxes.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... A bill altering state and local tax authority over cellular phone calls has been introduced in the U.S. Senate. Introduced by Senators Sam Brownback (R-KS) and Byron Dorgan (D-ND), the proposed Mobile Telecommunications Sourcing Act would tax...

Texas Lowers Internet Access Taxes.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... State and local governments are increasingly concerned about the sales tax revenues they lose as a result of Internet sales, but Internet access taxes also can be a source of income. Currently, there are only eight states in the country that...

Investor Relations Cut Borrowing Costs.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... Maintaining positive relationships with institutional investors can improve the price of municipal debt issues. Improved relationships between issuers and investors may result in an issuer being able to bypass bond insurance and its associated...

Safety Concerns Arise in Cyberspace.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... Over the past year, Russian hackers have been invading the computer systems of the U.S. Departments of Defense and Energy, military contractors, and leading American universities. Their aim is information on classified naval codes and...

Technology's Total Cost of Ownership.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... Governments and schools alike can benefit by examining the total cost of ownership (TCO) for technology. The concept behind TCO is that the original purchase price and cost of implementing a technology solution is not the final cost of owning...

Households, Businesses Borrowing More.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... Americans are on a borrowing binge, and households and businesses are increasingly in debt. In a number of categories, Americans are setting records for borrowing. For example, combined business and household debt constitutes 130 percent of...

Limiting Ways to Avoid Voter Approval for Bonds.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... A Michigan state representative wants local governments to publish notices in the local newspaper before issuing limited-tax general obligation bonds. Under legislation that will soon be introduced in the Michigan House of Representatives,...

Arizona DMV Automates Transactions.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... The National Association of State Information Resource Executives has selected the State of Arizona Motor Vehicle Division for recognition for its new Web site. The Web site allows for the electronic registration of vehicles. Using the Internet...

Alabama Voters Reject State Lottery.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
December 1, 1999... In October, 54 percent of Alabama voters rejected the governor's proposal to create a statewide lottery system. The lottery was projected to increase annual state revenues by $150 million. Governor Siegelman had hoped to use lottery gaming...

Fed Urges Tighter Lending Standards.(Federal Reserve Board)(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... In a letter to bank executives and examiners, the Federal Reserve's director of banking supervision urged vigilance in preventing lower standards for lending. The Fed official noted that problem loans, while relatively small, are increasing...

Government Employment Grows at All Levels.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
December 1, 1999... Governments added 47,000 jobs in the second quarter of 1999, raising total government employment nationwide to 20,091,000. Over the past year, government employment was up in 43 states, and local governments created a quarter of a million new...

Cities in Good Shape Fiscally.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
December 1, 1999... A recent study by the National League of Cities found that cities remain fiscally strong. Three out of four cities indicated that they were better able to meet financial needs in 1999 than in 1998, and six in 10 expect to do the same in the...

Public Support for Infrastructure Financing: The Arkansas Bond Referendum Experience.(Statistical Data Included)
December 1, 1999... Arkansas voters recently passed the first highway bond package in that state in 50 years. Less than four years earlier, 87 percent of voters had rejected another highway funding package. This article highlights the strategic plan followed by...

Analysis of the Call Feature on Municipal Debt.(Statistical Data Included)
December 1, 1999... Including a call option in a municipal bond issue can have a significant impact on interest costs. This article discusses the circumstances that lead to higher interest rates for bonds with call features, and it attempts to aid issuers in...

Measuring Municipal Default Risk.(Statistical Data Included)
December 1, 1999... The bond rating agency Fitch IRCA recently completed a study of municipal bond default risk. The study revealed that risk of default for municipal bonds is very low, but varies by market sector. This article is the result of that study. ...

New York City and Retail Bond Order Periods: Getting to the Core of Big Apple Finance.(Statistical Data Included)
December 1, 1999... New York City has been one of the most active issuers in utilizing pre-sale retail order periods in city-related bond financings. This article analyzes the extent to which retail order periods can be useful for other issuers in the context of...

Urban Revitalization and Tax Increment Financing in Chicago.(Statistical Data Included)
December 1, 1999... This article describes how the City of Chicago used tax increment financing to lure business and development, while revitalizing the local economy. Throughout the late 1800s and early 1900s, the Chicago Stockyards provided jobs for...

Addressing Unfunded Pension Liability: Pension Bonds in the City of Philadelphia.(Statistical Data Included)
December 1, 1999... In 1984, the City of Philadelphia had a 95 percent pension liability. In order to avoid a payment plan that would strain the city budget, Philadelphia decided to issue pension obligation bonds. This article highlights the benefits and risks of...

The Determinants of Municipal Credit Quality.
December 1, 1999... This article focuses on the methodology that one bond rating agency, Moody's Investors Service, uses for rating general obligation, lease-backed, and revenue bonds. It also clarifies which factors are predominant in rating assignments and...

Financing Information Technology Investments: The Strategy of Leasing.(Statistical Data Included)
December 1, 1999... This article describes the benefits of information technology leasing for governmental entities and highlights the different leasing structures available. Through its many different structures, information technology leasing can be...

Regulatory Activity Continues in Washington.
December 1, 1999... Although Congress takes a year-end recess, the activities of the executive branch and independent regulatory agencies continue throughout the year. Indeed, many policy determinations only begin to take shape after Congress has passed...

Additional Reporting Model Proposals.
December 1, 1999... In June 1999, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) issued Statement No. 34, Basic Financial Statements--and Management's Discussion and Analysis--for State and Local Governments. GASB Statement No. 34 established a new framework...

Forms of Local Government: A Handbook on City, County and Regional Options.(Review)
December 1, 1999... Kemp, Roger L., editor Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., 1999. (388 pp) America contains a plethora of different city, county, and regional governments. Far from being uniform, American local governments differ greatly in the...

Going Digital!(Review)
December 1, 1999... Litan, Robert E. and Niskanen, William A. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution and Cato Institute, 1998. (91 pp) Digitization provides the possibility to store, transmit, and receive vast quantities of data, instantaneously, from...

Understanding and Implementing GASB's New Financial Reporting Model: A Question and Answer Guide for Preparers and Auditors of State and Local Government Financial Statements.(Review)
December 1, 1999... Wood, Venita M. American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, 1999. (82 pp) The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) has released a new publication designed to help familiarize its members and their clients...

"Performance Measurement in Municipal Government: Assessing the State of the Practice".
December 1, 1999... Poister, Theodore and Streib, Gregory Public Administration Review, July/August 1999, pp. 325-334. As governments are continually challenged to improve the quality of services they provide while facing limited and often dwindling...

"Cash Flow Analysis and Planning".
December 1, 1999... Schuler, David Treasury Notes, July/August, 1999, p. 5. The July/August edition of Treasury Notes focuses on the critical step of cash flow forecasting in preparation for an investment program. The author illustrates a two-step process...

"Information Asymmetry and Municipal Revenue Bonds".
December 1, 1999... Kurtenbach, James M. and Vijayakumar, Jayaraman Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, Summer 1999, pp. 177-202. This article measures information asymmetry is the market for municipal revenue bonds. It...

"The Economics of Aging".(National Bureau of Economic Research report)(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... Wise, David A. NBER Reporter, Summer 1999, pp. 1-12. This report summarizes the National Bureau of Economic Research's (NBER) multi-pronged research into aging. The work of academics is presented in four areas: 1) savings and the...

"Hot Property".
December 1, 1999... The Economist, October 2, 1999, p. 86. This article summarizes an analysis performed by two economists at the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. The economists seek to explain bubbles (extreme and sustained...

"Government Mandates and Employer-Based Health Insurance: Who is Still Not Covered?".(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... Vanness, David and Wolfe, Barbara The LaFollette Policy Report, Spring/Summer 1999, PP. 12-19. This article investigates why a substantial number of Americans go without health insurance coverage when health insurance and health...

"Strengthening the Economic Development Marketing Message".(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... Gann, John L., Jr. Economic Development Commentary, Summer 1999, pp. 25-32. As more and more state and local jurisdictions offer incentives for businesses, it has become increasingly difficult for those businesses to distinguish among...

The Economic Benefits of Parks and Open Spaces.(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... Lerner, Steve and Poole, William The Trust for Public Land, 1999. The Economic Benefits of Parks and Open Spaces is a 48-page report highlighting the fiscal benefits enjoyed by cities and counties that have maintained undeveloped land...

"Rainy Day Funds and State Government Savings".(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... Knight, Brian and Levinson, Arik National Tax Journal, September 1999, pp. 459-472. This article examines the effect of budget stabilization funds, widely known as rainy day funds (RDFs), on state savings behavior. Specifically, it...

"State Planning in New Jersey".(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... Luberoff, David Public Works Management and Policy, November 1, 1999, pp. 10-30. This article attempts to explain the difficulties surrounding the State of New Jersey's current planning policy, which calls for voluntary as opposed to...

"The Lure of School Marketing".(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... Hardy, Lawrence American School Board Journal, October 1999, PP. 23-27. This article discusses the contracts between public schools and private vendors that result in commercial advertising in public schools. The article concludes that...

"The Effect of Tax and Expenditure Limitations on the Revenue Structure of Local Government, 1962-87".(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... Shadbegian, Ronald J. National Tax Journal, June 1999, Pp. 221-237. This article investigates the impact of local tax and expenditure limitations on local government revenues. Based on a study of 2,955 counties, it shows that tax and...

"Forecasting Revenue Receipts in the States: Current Challenges in California".(Brief Article)
December 1, 1999... Williams, Brad; Ingenito, Robert; and Vasche, Jon David National Tax Journal, September 1999, pp. 361-371. This article examines the recent performance of California's major revenue sources--the personal income tax (PIT), the sales and...

'When Citizens' Expectations Conflict with Budgetary Reality: Discontinuity between the Public's Demand for Services and its Willingness to Pay Taxes".(Review)
December 1, 1999... Glaser, Mark A. and Denhardt, Robert B. Public Budgeting, Accounting and Financial Management, Summer 1999, pp. 267-310. The tension between citizens' demand for services and the willingness to pay for those services is a familiar...