Government Finance Review articles from February 2005

Government Finance Review archives from February 2005

Finance officers and the leadership imperative.(changing role of government finance professionals)
February 1, 2005... One of the pleasures of being GFOA president has been the opportunity to attend many of your state conferences and annual meetings. You have shared with me a common commitment to and passion for our profession. I, too, am passionate about and...

Electronic payments exceed check payments for the first time.(News & Numbers)
February 1, 2005... Surveys conducted by the Federal Reserve confirm that electronic payment transactions in the United States have exceeded check payments for the first time. The number of electronic payment transactions totaled 44.5 billion in 2003, while the...

ICMA: e-government improves communication and customer service.(International City/County Management Association)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2005... Nearly 70 percent of local governments report improved communication with the public as a result of their e-government initiatives, and 56 percent cite improved customer service, according to the results of a comprehensive survey of cities and...

State revenue pressures ease, but expenditure concerns remain.
February 1, 2005... The National Conference of State Legislatures in December released the results of a new 50-state survey of state legislative fiscal officers that shows more money is flowing into state coffers, but it's not expected to be enough to relieve...

Updated jobs report shows some metros strong, others still struggling.
February 1, 2005... At its second Economic Summit in December, the United States Conference of Mayors released an updated report on U.S. metro job growth showing that during the year ending in October 2004, 259 of the nation's 318 metro economies registered some...

CalPERS announces plan to reform executive compensation practices.
February 1, 2005... The California Public Employees' Retirement System's Board of Administration has approved a plan advocating executive compensation reforms on a national level. CalPERS will wage a campaign against targeted individual compensation committee...

Letter to the editors.(Letter to the Editor)
February 1, 2005... I [am writing about] the Government Finance Review article by Jeff McElravy and Leo Yonghong Liang entitled "Debt Capacity Analysis for Local Governments" (October 2004, pages 41-46). Their capacity analysis relies on "peer group" mean or...

Fitch ratings: rising health care costs taking a toll on local government finances.
February 1, 2005... The rising costs of employee health care and health insurance have created significant budgetary, financial, and management challenges for U.S. state and local governments over the past five years, according to a new Fitch Ratings survey. As...

Unlocking the potential of your employees: the not-so-secret secrets of motivational leadership.
February 1, 2005... The working conditions couldn't have been more deplorable. Toil from dawn until dusk in unbearably hot, steamy weather with no electricity, no fresh water, no place to take a break. Do punishing physical labor with inadequate tools and even...

What does leadership in public finance mean to you?
February 1, 2005... GFOA asked the membership for their insights on leadership in public finance. Here are some of the responses we received. Relentlessly exploring and unequivocally taking ownership of the roles, responsibilities, and choices available to the...

A new model for training public sector leaders: the role of self-other perceptions in leadership development.
February 1, 2005... When was the last time you attended a conference that did not include in the program at least one session with the word "leadership" in the title? This often used but little understood term has become one of the latest buzzwords in public...

Financial leadership for the 21st century: an interview with five public sector leaders.(Amy Chan, Cynthia Eisenhauer, Mordecai Lee, Timothy Riordan, and Pamela Syfert)(Interview)
February 1, 2005... The first four years of the 21st century have posed unprecedented challenges for government finance officers. Yet at the same time, the fiscal crisis precipitated by the 2001 recession and the 9/11 terrorist attacks punctuated a trend that had...

Collateralized mortgage obligations: are they suitable for public investors?
February 1, 2005... As an investor of public funds, you need to be aware of the effect of rising interest rates on the value of collateralized mortgage obligations or CMOs. These securities can experience more volatility than plain vanilla security types like...

Revenues got you down? Start with your revenue policies.(Best Practices)
February 1, 2005... We've all been there. That critical point in the budget process has finally arrived--the day the revenue forecasts are matched up against expenditure requests. "Ouch," we all say to ourselves, as our eyes quickly drop to that bottom line...

Winning the war for talent: Part I--the challenges: the impending retirement boom and resulting worker shortage is one of many workforce challenges facing government agencies of all types and at all types.(Management & Careers)
February 1, 2005... In many organizations, it has almost become a cliche that "people are our most important resource." The term "human resources" has even evolved into "human capital" to reflect the belief that employees are assets we must invest in, not...

GFOA takes ERP procurement methodology to Canada.(Solutions)(enterprise resource planning system, Government Finance Officers Association )
February 1, 2005... The GFOA Research and Consulting Center recently assisted its first Canadian client with the procurement of an enterprise resource planning system (ERP). Each of GFOA's government clients is subject to a unique set of policies, procedures, and...

Watching Washington: what to look for in 2005: from tax policy to health care reform, the 109th Congress will tackle a host of issues with important implications for state and local governments.(Federal Focus)
February 1, 2005... The incoming 109th Congress will again address a host of issues with important implications for state and local governments. As legislation is introduced and regulatory proposals are brought forward, GFOA will keep members apprised of...

New GASB guidance for employers in cost-sharing pension plans: a new technical bulletin on pension and other postemployment benefits clarifies some of the practical differences concerning the proper application of two GASB statements on this topic.(The Accounting Angle)(Governmental Accounting Standards Board )
February 1, 2005... State and local government employers that offer pension or other postemployment benefits (OPEB) to their employees can turn to two pronouncements of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board for authoritative guidance--GASB Statement No. 27,...

Everything you ever wanted your elected officials to know about budgeting (but were afraid to tell them).(Book Review)
February 1, 2005... Memos to the Governor: An Introduction to State Budgeting Published by Georgetwon University Press www.press.georgetown.edu 2004; 96 pages; $14.95 Dall Forsythe's Memos to the Governor is an accessible and easily digestible primer...

Calendar.(Calendar)
February 1, 2005... [state and provincial association events] February California Society of Municipal Finance Officers Annual Conference February 21-25 Burlingame, California www.csmfo.org Midwest Public Finance Conference February 23-25 Wichita,...

On the ludicrous search for the magical performance system.(managing public agencies through perfect system)
February 1, 2005... The search is on. Public officials everywhere--in national, states, and provincial capitols--are looking for the best performance system. For once they find this system, they will (they believe) have solved their performance problems. And...