Government Finance Review articles from October 1995

Government Finance Review archives from October 1995

The president's agenda. (Government Finance Officers Association President Timothy H. Riordan)
October 1, 1995... GFOA has an excellent tradition of providing assistance to professional government finance managers. During my term as president, I want to strengthen that assistance in the areas of * budgeting, * technology, * best practices, and *...

Mission, management, and service delivery: integrating strategic planning and budgeting in Milwaukee. (Wisconsin)
October 1, 1995... An issue-management planning and budgetary model focuses on outcome-oriented objectives for measuring results important to the community. Citizens care about efficiently provides services, lower property taxes, safe neighborhoods, employment...

Program performance management: a self-assessment/review checklist for managers.
October 1, 1995... The Western Australian Treasury Department's program performance guidebook for managers includes a checklist that covers planning for program performance, resource management, performance monitoring and evaluation, and the performance management...

Building a better budget through trust and communication. (Topsail Beach, North Carolina)
October 1, 1995... Simple yet effective redesign of the budget process and document create more efficient decision making in a small town. In September 1991, the Town of Topsail Beach, North Carolina, hired a new town manager, who inherited an organization in...

Are subsidies worth it?: How to calculate costs and benefits of business incentives. (Chicago, Illinois)(includes related articles)
October 1, 1995... A cost-benefit spreadsheet based on an econometric model of the local economy is being used by analysts in Chicago's Department of Planning and Development to improve the economic and fiscal information available for making decisions about...

An interview with the new chair of the GASB. (Governmental Accounting Standards Board Chairman Tom Allen)(Interview)
October 1, 1995... Tom Allen became chair of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) in July 1995. He was first appointed to the board the previous year by the Financial Accounting Foundation, which is responsible for overseeing the operations of both...

Beyond the headlines: the reality of public investing.
October 1, 1995... How do state and local governments invest their funds? Have their practices changed since the Orange County investment pool filed for bankruptcy? According to a new survey, the large majority of investment managers are conservative in their...

Investment policy and recommended practices. (Government Finance Officers Association)
October 1, 1995... For many years, the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) has undertaken a number of activities to promote good cash management practices. The GFOA has supported model investment legislation for state and local governments, full...

The value of an investment oversight committee. (government investment management)
October 1, 1995... As an increasing number of local governments are adopting written investment policies, the importance of having an investment oversight committee is taking hold, as well. Government Finance Review invited three GFOA members to discuss the...

Reporting model proposal. (Governmental Accounting Standards Board)
October 1, 1995... In recent years, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) has focused its attention on how to improve the framework that state and local governments use to present financial information in their annual reports. Last year, the GASB...

Congress focuses on changes in securities laws.
October 1, 1995... Charging that existing securities laws and regulatory activities have hampered the ability of U.S. corporations to attract capital and therefore compete globally, the 104th Congress has embarked on a mission that threatens state and local...

Women and their retirement income: will it be enough?
October 1, 1995... Much media attention has been focused recently on the need to improve dramatically the savings habits of Americans. According to the Department of Commerce, the U.S. savings rate in the 1990s has averaged about 2 percent, well below the level of...

The Internet: what's it good for, anyway? (usefulness to state and local finance officers)
October 1, 1995... For the past year, the American public has been inundated with hyperbole about the vast quantities of information available on the Internet and how access to it will change the way they live and do business. But when faced with the practical...

Ingredients of a reinvented government. (excerpt from 'Local government in Canada, 4th ed.')
October 1, 1995... Editor's note: The following article consists of excerpts from Chapter 10 of the book Local Government in Canada, Fourth Edition, published by McGraw-Hill Ryerson in 1995. The GFOA extends its thanks to the publisher for permission to reprint its...

The New Economics for Industry, Government, Education.
October 1, 1995... "This book is for people who are living under the tyranny of the prevailing style of management. The huge, long-range losses caused by this style of management have led us into decline. Most people imagine that the present style of management has...

Trustworthy Government: Leadership and Management Strategies for Building Trust and High Performance.
October 1, 1995... David G. Carnevale writes a basic overview of the need for strong leadership that builds trust and effectiveness in government organizations. Carnevale believes that there is a "pervasive trust gap" that is widening in the workplace, including...

The Guide to Economic Indicators, 2nd ed.
October 1, 1995... The expansive literature on economic indicators is replete with abstruse and often esoteric prose reserved for the academic world or adept economists. Norman Frumkin again departs from this course as he revisits the issues that frame the American...