Government Finance Review articles from December 2002

Government Finance Review archives from December 2002

California starts, completes largest municipal bond sale in U.S. history. (News Briefs).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... The California Department of Water Resources initiated the largest municipal bond sale in history October 23 by selling $4.25 billion worth of floating-rate power purchase revenue bonds. The DWR issued an additional $6.3 billion of tax-exempt,...

Schools, social services hit hard by D.C. budget cuts. (News Briefs).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... Facing a $323 million revenue shortfall, the D.C. Council passed a budget that will reduce funding for the D.C. public school system by about $30 million and cut about $54 million from social services. The budget also will raise taxes on...

Alabama pension fund buys share of US Airways. (News Briefs).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... The Retirement Systems of Alabama in September purchased a 37.5 percent share of bankrupt airline US Airways for $240 million. The state employee pension fund also agreed to lend US Airways $500 million so that the airline can continue...

Dallas raises property taxes, public safety salaries. (News Briefs).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... The Dallas City Council passed a $1.7 billion budget September 30 that included a higher property tax rate and a 5 percent pay raise for police officers and firefighters. The 2003 budget maintains last year's funding levels for city services,...

Broward County approves living wage rules. (News Briefs).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... Broward County Commissioners in October voted to implement living wage rules that will set the county's minimum living wage at $9.57 an hour. About 380 county employees earning less than that can now expect to earn almost $20,000 a year. This...

University of Texas nonprofit implements full-disclosure policy. (News Briefs).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... The University of Texas Investment Management Co., a nonprofit government corporation that manages investments for the University of Texas and Texas A&M, recently implemented a full-disclosure policy. Some of the 145 money managers who handle...

Fairfax hopes to halt nonprofit tax breaks. (News Briefs).(during slow economy)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... Fairfax County voted to impose a moratorium on tax exemptions to nonprofit groups, arguing that it can no longer afford to hand out tax breaks in the slow economy. The move is intended to minimize cuts to human services and other programs as a...

Auditor to review New Jersey pension investment strategy. (News Briefs).(due to losses to state employee pension funds)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... New Jersey State Treasurer John McCormac has hired Fiduciary Services Inc. to conduct a six-month review of the state's investment practices. Fiduciary Services Inc., a Washington D.C.-based auditing firm, was selected over nine other firms...

Atlanta transit agency planning lease deal for tracks, station. (News Briefs).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... The Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority hopes to follow in the footsteps of transit agencies in Chicago, San Diego, and Miami by leasing nine miles of track and seven MARTA stations. If the DeKalb County Commission and the Atlanta City...

Manhunt will cost millions of dollars. (News Briefs).(costs estimated for seeking Washington, DC, area snipers in 10/02)
December 1, 2002... Analysts have predicted that the October manhunt for the snipers linked to the shootings across the Washington area will end up costing governments several million dollars. In Montgomery County, Maryland, where the first five shootings...

Chicago increases number of parking tickets issued. (News Briefs).(in July 2002 vs June 2002)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... Chicago Revenue Department figures show that the number of parking tickets issued by police officers and parking enforcement aides soared in the month of July. The city wrote 386,000 tickets to cars parked on city streets in July, compared to...

Independent financial advisers approve 'best disclosure practices'. (News Briefs).(National Association of Independent Public Finance Advisors)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... At their October annual meeting in San Francisco, the National Association of Independent Public Finance Advisors adopted several best disclosure practices for their members to recommend to municipal issuers. The NAIPFA members are now...

Seattle looking for money in increased fees and fines. (News Briefs).(Brief Article)
December 1, 2002... To help close an estimated general fund budget gap of $60 million for 2003, Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels wants to raise at least 367 of the city's 1,000-plus fees and fines. The proposed increases range from building permits and parking meters to...

From scorekeeper to business partner: The evolving role of government financial executives.
December 1, 2002... By leading the charge to entrepreneurial government and developing nonfinancial competencies, government financial executives can step out of the shadow of their technical expertise and into an expanded role at the policymaking table as valued...

GFOA Code of Professional Ethics: anchor in a sea of change.(government financial officers offered new ethics code)
December 1, 2002... The integrity of financial professionals recently has come under attack in the wake of a series of corporate accounting scandals. Finance officers must assign renewed emphasis to the GEOA Code of Professional Ethics if they are to maintain the...

Career-building strategies.(for finance officers in public administration)
December 1, 2002... The recent recession hit professionals particularly hard and fundamentally altered the job market. To succeed in this new environment, finance officers should have a personal career development plan. Editor's note: This article is...

The budget analyst: skills, training, and compensation.(changes in budget analyst skills for public administration)
December 1, 2002... To be effective in modern government organizations, budget analysts need to possess the right combination of personality traits, analytical and communication skills, and knowledge of government finance and operations. Increasing demand for...

Practicing what we preach: measuring the performance of the finance office.(tips for public finance managers on how to evaluate employee, department performance)
December 1, 2002... The finance office is usually where performance data is collected, analyzed, and prepared for decision-making purposes and for presentation in the annual budget. Finance office staff possesses the kinds of skills that a performance measurement...

Your place or mine? Telecommuting and the finance officer.
December 1, 2002... Rapid advances in technology have converged with the increasingly frenetic pace of American life to make telecommuting an increasingly common work arrangement. A recent survey revealed that at least one segment of government finance officers...

Accounting for affiliated organizations. (Issues in Accounting).(new accounting standards for government agencies getting financial support from non-profit organizations)
December 1, 2002... In May, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board issued Statement No. 39, Determining Whether Certain Organizations are Component Units. The provisions of GASB Statement No. 39 are effective for fiscal periods beginning after June 15, 2003....

The art and science of costing labor contracts. (Forum).(understanding the costs of labor contract proposals during negotiation)
December 1, 2002... Labor is the most costly variable in the provision of public services by state and local governments. In order to make informed policy decisions regarding labor contracts, elected officials and finance officers need an accurate assessment of...

Making Horses Drink: How to lead and succeed in business. (Book Reviews).(Book Review)
December 1, 2002... Alex Hiam Entrepreneur Press (244 pp) Reviewed by Peter Christensen, managing editor/policy analyst, GFOA Research and Consulting Center, Chicago, Illinois. To be successful, today's finance officer must be much more than an...

Comparative Performance Measurement. (Book Reviews).(Book Review)
December 1, 2002... Elaine Morley, Scott P. Bryant, and Harry P. Hatry Washington, D.C.: Urban Institute Press (124 pp) Reviewed by W. Anderson Williams, policy analyst, GFO A Research and Consulting Center, Chicago, Illinois. In recent years, local...

"Teaching the ABCs". (Accounting, Auditing, and Financial Reporting).(slow acceptance of activity-based costing by government entities)(Abstract)
December 1, 2002... Jason Peckenpaugh Government Executive, April 2002, pp. 41-46. This article discusses the federal government's efforts to implement activity-based costing in various federal agencies. Despite its use in several federal agencies, ABC...

"A Dynamic Model of Citizen Preference Revelation". (Budgeting).(proposes use of dynamic tax price survey to help citizens decide how to fund budgets)(Abstract)
December 1, 2002... Mark D. Robbins and Bill Simonsen Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, Fall 2002, pp. 445-461. At its most basic level, citizen participation involves the selection of representatives through voting. Mere...

"Institutional Structures Utilized in State Revenue Forecasting". (Budgeting).(states typically rely on non-consensual budget forecast approach)(Abstract)
December 1, 2002... William Voorhees Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, Summer 2002, pp. 175-195. Inaccurate state revenue projections result in either a budget shortfall or a surplus. Either way, the incorrect projection...

"CFOs: Driving to Finance Transformation for the 21st Century". (Financial Management).(Abstract)
December 1, 2002... CFO Research Services and Cap Gemini Ernst & Young This report summarizes the findings of a recent survey of 277 senior finance executives. Conducted by CFO Research Services and sponsored by Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, the survey shows that...

"Ukrainian Local Governments' Finance on the Threshold of a New Millenium: Will Interbudgetary Reform Meet Public Needs"? (International Finance).(Abstract)
December 1, 2002... Sergii Slukhai Public Budgeting & Finance, Fall 2002, pp. 46-66. Since the declaration of Ukraine's independence in 1992, local government finance has retained most of the characteristics of the Soviet era. Public finance in Ukraine...

"The Pension Offensive". (Pensions and Benefits).(pension funds exert pressure on companies for improved governance, changes in investment analysis)(Abstract)
December 1, 2002... Penelope Lemov Governing, September 2002, pp. Two enormous events--a falling stock market and widespread corporate malfeasance--have dramatically altered the posture of public pension funds. Because of the financial damage inflicted...

"A Multiple-Indicator Approach to Municipal Service Evaluation: Correlating Performance Measurement and Citizen Satisfaction across Jurisdictions". (Performance Measurement).(Abstract)
December 1, 2002... Janet M. Kelly and David Swindell Public Administration Review, September/October 2002, pp. 610- 619. Citizen satisfaction surveys potentially act as external measures of administrative performance. This article seeks to understand such...

Calendar.(Calendar)
December 1, 2002... DECEMBER December 3-7: National League of Cities Congress of Cities and Exposition. Salt Lake City, UT. For more information, visit www.nlc.org. December 4-6: The National Electronic Commerce Coordinating Council 6th Annual Conference....

New Governors face tough times. (Commentary).(Alice Rivlin's proposals to bolster state economies should be debated)
December 1, 2002... Tuesday's victorious gubernatorial candidates may soon be wondering if the voters did them a favor. Barring some kind of economic miracle, the fiscal outlook for the states is dreary in the extreme. And it's likely to stay that way not...