Government Finance Review articles from December 2003

Government Finance Review archives from December 2003

Cash management and the efficiency imperative.(from the editors)(Editorial)
December 1, 2003... Whenever fiscal stress becomes a central issue in a political campaign, buzzwords like streamlining bureaucracy, reinventing government, and enhancing efficiency are heard in the media. The last few years have been no exception. While balancing...

Mayors: cities not seeing federal homeland security dollars.(News & Numbers)
December 1, 2003... A recent report by the U.S. Conference of Mayors revealed that 90 percent of cities have not received any of the $1.5 billion in federal funds approved by Congress in March to help local emergency workers prevent, prepare for, and react to a...

Government Finance Review claims magazine design honor.(News & Numbers)(Ozzie Awards)(Folio:Show Celebration of Excellence Gala Dinner and Awards Ceremony in New York City)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Government Finance Review, GFOA's bimonthly membership publication, has been awarded an Ozzie Award for excellence in magazine design. Art Director Sarah Ettinger accepted the award on behalf of GFOA at the Folio:Show Celebration of Excellence...

Controlling Public Expenditure: the Changing Roles of Central Budget Agencies--Better Guardians?(Book Review)
December 1, 2003... Edited by John Wanna, Lotte Jensen, and Jouke de Vries (Edward Elgar Publishing, September 2003) One of the most important functions of government is to marshal and deploy resources to achieve desired objectives and outcomes. This task is...

Report card: America's infrastructure flunking.(Illustration)
December 1, 2003... A new report by the American Society of Civil Engineers has concluded that the condition of America's roads, bridges, drinking water, and other public works have shown little improvement since they were graded an overall D+ in 2001, with some...

Proposed ban on Internet access taxes could cost billions in lost revenues.(News & Numbers)
December 1, 2003... State and local governments face the possibility of substantial losses in tax revenue if a federally imposed ban on Internet access taxes is enacted into law, according to a recently published report by the Center on Budget and Policy...

Skyrocketing health insurance premiums continue to tax employers, employees.
December 1, 2003... Health insurance premiums increased 13.9 percent in 2003, a larger increase than last year and the largest since 1990, according to the 2003 Employer Health Benefits Survey released in September by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health...

Going once, going twice, sold! How Web-based auctions can increase yields and improve efficiency.(90-Day CD)(Cover Story)
December 1, 2003... Editor's note: In its October meeting, the GFOA Executive Board approved an alliance with Grant Street Group to create GFOA YieldAdvantage, a real-time electronic marketplace for investing short-term government cash holdings. To learn more...

From paper to plastic: how to design and implement a purchasing card program.
December 1, 2003... Governments have struggled for years to find an efficient, cost-effective solution to the problem of small-dollar purchases. Studies have shown that on average, 80 percent of purchasing transactions account for only 20 percent of total dollars...

Understanding and preventing payment fraud.
December 1, 2003... Until the last 10 years, the primary exposure of governments to payment fraud was the dishonesty of their own employees. Sophisticated check fraud required special skills and an investment in expensive printing equipment. And since sole...

Teaming up on banking services: how combining business volumes can drive down costs.
December 1, 2003... While the economy is now showing signs of recovery, most government revenue sources have yet to turn the corner. As a result, many governments still find themselves struggling to meet increased demand for services with constrained resources. In...

GFOA's new model investment policy.
December 1, 2003... Since the first edition of GFOA's Investing Public Funds, "investment policy" has become a commonly used term of art in state and local government. An investment policy is a set of guidelines used by public agencies and others to prudently...

Revisions to GFOA's budget program criteria.(Best Practices)
December 1, 2003... In 1998, GFOA approved a recommended practice endorsing the work of the National Advisory Council on State and Local Budgeting, encouraging state and local governments to look to the NACSLB recommended budget practice statements as a model for...

By the book: the whys and hows of employee handbooks.(Management & Careers)
December 1, 2003... An employee handbook is a valuable communications tool that sets forth an organization's personnel policies, procedures, practices, and benefits. Written policies and procedures help reduce employee misunderstandings about what is expected of...

Are you ready to implement an ERP system? GFOA assists a mid-size county.(Solutions)(Enterprise Resource Planning )(Government Finance Officers Association )
December 1, 2003... It is not uncommon for a government to spend many months procuring an enterprise system and then contracting with software and services vendors only to delay the project right at the outset. Why? The government had not prepared itself to begin...

Banking bills still in limbo.(Federal Focus)
December 1, 2003... Resting below the congressional radar screen are several issues pertaining to banking relations that are of interest to GFOA members. While Congress has moved forward with a bill on the use of electronic checks, lawmakers still have yet to act...

GASB issues new standard on capital asset impairments.(The Accounting Angle)(Governmental Accounting Standards Board)
December 1, 2003... The Governmental Accounting Standards Board just released a new standard on when and how governments should recognize that the service potential of a capital asset has been impaired. The new pronouncement also offers guidance on the appropriate...

Managing in a knowledge society.(Book Review)
December 1, 2003... Peter Drucker On the Profession of Management Published by Harvard Business School Press (800) 988-0886 www.hbsp.com 2003; 224 pages; $16.95 Over the last few years, we at GFOA have heard repeated calls from our members for more...

Calendar.(Calendar)
December 1, 2003... [gfoa events] December New Orleans, LA 15-16 Capital Budgeting and Infrastructure Finance 15-17 Intermediate Governmental Accounting 17 Understanding and Calculating Arbitrage Rebate 17-18 Financial and ERP Systems...

Stratospheric subsidies--or back to basics?(Commentary)(Column)
December 1, 2003... Do all of America's cities have something to learn from New York? Does New York have something to learn from places like Los Angeles and Houston? "Yes!" says a groundbreaking report on New York's shaky post-9/11 future, financed by the...