Government Finance Review articles from December 2005

Government Finance Review archives from December 2005

Retirement and benefits administration in the spotlight.(from the editors)
December 1, 2005... A recent news article called public employee retirement systems "ticking time bombs for state and local budgets," citing chronic underfunding of defined benefit plans and the impending retirement of the baby boomers." Whether or not dour...

Centralized finance systems cut costs by 23 percent.(News & Numbers)
December 1, 2005... By moving to a single information system for finance and at the same time implementing consistent data and technology standards, organizations can cut the cost of finance operations by 23 percent, according to research by The Hackett Group, a...

Standard & Poor's: credit quality strong in fastest-growing cities.(News & Numbers)
December 1, 2005... The 50 U.S. cities with the fastest-growing populations between 2000 and 2004 have above-average credit quality, according to a report by Standard & Poor's Ratings Services. The rating agency reports that most of these cities have managed their...

Encyclopedia of Taxation and Tax Policy, Second Edition.(New Releases)
December 1, 2005... Encyclopedia of Taxation and Tax Policy, Second Edition Edited by Robert D. Ebel, Joseph J. Cordec, and Jane G. Gravelle (Urban Institute Press, 2005) From adjusted gross income to zoning and property taxes, the second edition of The...

Comptroller: New York's debt will increase 52 percent by 2010.(News & Numbers)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2005... By 2010, the State of New York will have increased its debt by 52 percent over 10 years and taxpayers will be paying nearly $6 billion annually in debt service payments, according to the Financial Condition of New York State, a report by State...

Survey shows almost all employers have a written pension investment policy.(News & Numbers)
December 1, 2005... Eighty-nine percent of U.S. employers have at least one written investment policy statement, according to Investment Policy Statements, the latest survey in the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans' Survey & Sample Series. ...

Percent change in quarterly tax revenue by state.(News & Numbers)(Illustration)
December 1, 2005... Percent Change in Quarterly Tax Revenue by State April-June, 2004 to 2005 Personal Corporate Income Tax Income Tax Sales Total United States 18.4% 22.8% ...

E-Government capabilities improving, study says.(News & Numbers)
December 1, 2005... Seventy-three percent of state and federal government Web sites now have fully executable services--up from 56 percent in 2004--according to the latest installment of State and Federal E-Government in the United States, a report by Darrell M....

Government finance review.(Editorial Calendar)(Calendar)
December 1, 2005... February 2006 Internal Control for State and Local Governments Articles due: November 15, 2005 Ad insertion order due: December 15, 2005 April 2006 GFOA Centennial Issue Articles due: January 15, 2006 Ad insertion order due:...

Funding OPEB liabilities: what are your options?(Other Postemployment Benefits)(Cover Story)
December 1, 2005... The fulfillment of retiree pension and other benefit obligations has become a major concern globally in both the government and private sectors, driven in part by the demographic phenomenon of people living longer. In addition, life style...

A proactive approach to managing health care costs: the City of Montgomery's health care benefits committee.
December 1, 2005... As hot button topics go, health insurance is at or near the top of organizational agendas across the country. Health insurance issues impact us nationally, statewide, regionally, locally, on the job, and in our homes. The impacts of health care...

Revisiting the DB-DC question.(Interview)
December 1, 2005... THE DB PERSPECTIVE By Keith Brainard The following is reprinted with the permission of the National Association of State Retirement Administrators. It was originally published in the Spring 2005 issue of NASRA News. The defined...

Eyes wide open: the pros and cons of deferred retirement option plans.(retirement planning)
December 1, 2005... Over the last 20 years, Deferred Retirement Option Plans, or DROPs, have become increasingly common in the public sector. Originally conceived to retain retirement-eligible police officers and firefighters, DROPs have been offered to teachers...

Using technology to enhance capital planning and budgeting: Austin's eCAPRIS project reporting and information system.
December 1, 2005... Physical infrastructure and facilities are the backbone of government operations. Failure to invest in needed capital assets or maintain existing assets will impair a government's ability to provide the services constituents demand and can...

Survey: economic development a big deal for finance officers: as finance officers become increasingly interested in economic development, GFOA is working on recommended practices and other resources to help them assume a more visible role in the development process.(Government Finance Officers Association)
December 1, 2005... At the economic development sessions held at the annual conference in San Antonio this past June, GFOA members were asked to fill out a brief survey sponsored by the Committee on Economic Development and Capital Planning. The purpose of the...

Writing for today's workplace: writing in the modern workplace can be a difficult and daunting task, but professionals can produce high-quality documents simply by applying a few proven prewriting, writing, and design techniques.(Management & Careers)
December 1, 2005... Recently a professional acquaintance said to me, "Schools teach us how to write creative essays and novels, but they don't teach us how to write for the workplace." Unfortunately, this observation is true for many professionals who find...

Using performance measures to improve performance: governments today operate in an environment characterized by growing demand for services, continuous fiscal stress, and global competition. Performance measures are an effective tool for successfully meeting these challenges.(Solutions)
December 1, 2005... A growing number of local governments are establishing performance measurement systems to systematically collect and report data on organizational performance. What are the benefits of collecting and reporting all this data? Robert Behn has...

The state and local implications of federal tax reform: it is imperative that Congress understand the negative impact some of the Panel's proposals would have on state and local governments, particularly the elimination of the state and local tax deductions.(Federal Focus)
December 1, 2005... On November 1, the President's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform delivered its much-anticipated report to Treasury Secretary John Snow. President Bush created the Panel in January to recommend options for making the tax code simpler, fairer,...

New GFOA guidance on controlling noncapitalized items: management of a government's centralized finance function must take positive steps to ensure that adequate control is maintained over three categories of items that commonly are not reported as assets in a government's financial statements.(Government Finance Officers Association)
December 1, 2005... The GFOA Executive Board recently approved a recommended practice entitled Ensuring Control over Noncapitalized Items. The new guidance builds upon an earlier recommended practice, Establishing Appropriate Capitalization Thresholds for Tangible...

Seeing eye to eye: performance measures that matter to citizens.(THE BOOKSHELF)
December 1, 2005... Listening to the Public: Adding the Voices of the People to Government Performance Published by Fund for the City of New York www.fcny.org 2005; 102 pages; $17 Citizen participation has often been the square peg that public...

State and provincial association events.(Calendar)(Brief Article)(Calendar)
December 1, 2005... December Wisconsin GFOA Winter Conference December 1-2 Green Bay, Wisconsin www.wgfoa.org January Missouri GFOA Winter Seminar January 13 Columbia, Missouri www.gfoa-mo.org Louisiana GFOA Government Finance Institute January...

GFOA events.(Brief Article)(Calendar)
December 1, 2005... December Internet Training 7 Accounting and Financial Reporting for Other Postemployment Benefits (OPEB) Atlanta, Georgia 12 Accounting for Capital Assets 12 Evaluating Internal Controls 12-13 Best Practices in...

City-sponsored 'Wi-Fi': save from the telecoms?(Commentary)
December 1, 2005... One of the greediest moves ever by big telephone companies appears--for the moment--to have run amok, if not backfired. Telecom giants, including Verizon and SBC Communications, have been pressing legislatures to stop cities from sponsoring...

2005 index by author.
December 1, 2005... A Allison, Gregory S. Making the Most of the New Blue Book April, Page 10 Anastopoulos, Sofia Yield Advantage: Bringing Efficiency to GFOA Members SOLUTIONS August, Page 58 B Baker, William H. Writing for Today's Workplace...

2005 index by subject and jurisdiction.
December 1, 2005... ACCOUNTING,AUDITING, AND FINANCIAL REPORTING Auditor Involvement with Official Statements and Web Sites Stephen J. Gauthier THE ACCOUNTING ANGLE June, Page 70 From Internal Control to Enterprise Risk Management Stephen J. Gauthier THE...