Government Finance Review articles from February 1999

Government Finance Review archives from February 1999

Tell public employees: choose to save!
February 1, 1999... America's national savings rate is one of the lowest among the advanced, industrialized economies: 3.8 percent of disposable income and 7.1 percent of total income. Looking ahead into the next century, the stress on the country's pension and...

Performance measurement systems: results from a city and state survey.
February 1, 1999... A survey sent to city and state auditors found that two-thirds of those surveyed use performance measurement (PM) systems. Generally, governments are satisfied with their PM systems in measuring inputs and outputs, but definitely less satisfied...

Activity based management and performance measurement systems.
February 1, 1999... Advanced capabilities associated With modern enterprise financial systems now provide a vehicle by which governments can realize the goals of measuring performance and capturing costs of core business activities. The author describes the impact...

Applying TQM principles to the finance department: the city of Auburn experience.(total quality management)(Alabama)
February 1, 1999... This article describes how Auburn used total quality management to improve the finance department's services to internal and external customers. The City of Auburn, Alabama, has a population of 40,000 and is home to Auburn University,...

Managing enterprise financial system projects: the city of Detroit's experience.
February 1, 1999... This article describes project management strategies that the City of Detroit has used to implement an enterprise system. In 1994, a new mayor was elected in Detroit. The mayor's vision was to transform Detroit into a world-class city by...

E-budgeting: how Web based solutions simplify budget development.
February 1, 1999... Electronic budgeting (E-Budgeting) solutions can streamline and transform the budgeting process at all levels of the organization. Editor's note: Public finance officers are increasingly presented with new electronic and technological means...

Designing and evaluating early retirement programs: the state of Wyoming experience.
February 1, 1999... The State of Wyoming Early Retirement Program demonstrates ways in which a government can invigorate its workforce with new people, new ideas, provide advancement opportunities for employees, downsize without laying people off, and, most...

Technology for customer service: video conferencing at the New York State Teachers' Retirement System.
February 1, 1999... Editor's note: Each year the Government Finance Officers Association bestows its prestigious Awards for Excellence to recognize outstanding contributions to the field of government finance. The awards stress practical, documented work that...

Washington report: the 105th Congress wraps up.
February 1, 1999... Following a productive first session of the 105th Congress in 1997, in which the Clinton administration and Congress agreed on a balanced budget and significant tax law changes were enacted affecting state and local governments, much was...

Revising the budget document in the city of Glendora, California.
February 1, 1999... The City of Glendora, the "Pride of the Foothills," has a population of 52,500 and lies at the foot of the San Gabriel Valley Mountains. The city has nine functional departments that provide the following services: public safety, public works,...

Required Y2K disclosures.
February 1, 1999... Both the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have reminded state and local governments of the need to make certain disclosures regarding the Year 2000. The GASB's guidance can be...

Fiscal federalism in the 21st century: comparing the experiences of the U.S. and Spain.
February 1, 1999... Federalism is a system of governance in which the central state or national level shares powers with subnational governments. In the U.S. and Spain, shifts in responsibilities between the different tiers of government are the result of...

Downlink to Maine: how the GFOA satellite conferences bring leading-age information to local governments.(Government Finance Officers Association)
February 1, 1999... It takes seven hours to drive across Maine on the interstate highway. Maine has 492 cities and towns with only three cities having a population of more than 25,000. Due to the travel distances involved and the cost of bringing national speakers...

Managing Pension Plans: A Comprehensive Guide to Improving Plan Performance.(Review)
February 1, 1999... Logue, Dennis E., and Rader, Jack S. Boston, Massachusetts: Harvard Business School Press. (381 pp) Reviewed by Nick Greifer, Senior Policy Analyst, GFOA Research Center. Authors Dennis Logue and Jack Rader have set a very ambitious...

Restructuring State and Local Services: Ideas, Proposals, and Experiments.(Review)
February 1, 1999... Raphaelson, Arnold, H., editor. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger Publishers, 1998. (154 pp) Reviewed by Salomon Guajardo, Ph. D., Manager of Public Policy and Research, GFOA Research Center. Privatizing state and local government...

Technology Integration.(Review)
February 1, 1999... Iansiti, Marco Harvard Business School Press, 1998. (249 pp) Reviewed by Sandra Kim, Policy Analyst, GFOA Research Center. Technology integration and technology applications across the enterprise are recurring and important issues that...