Government Finance Review

Browse past and current articles from this publication.

Dollars and sense on muni wireless.
Some 350 cities across the country are in some stage of implementing citywide Wi-Fi (short-range wireless Internet access). Hundreds more are exploring the idea. An important step in the decision-ma . . .

Consortium buying: best practices for local government implementations.
Consortium buying has been a hot topic among local governments of all sizes for more than a decade, but few have implemented successfully the concept beyond group purchasing initiatives. Yet, when f . . .

Serving constituents, saving dollars; the cost-reduction potential of constituent relationship management.(Cover story)
Constituent relationship management (CRM) combines advanced telephony, Internet, and computer technology with constituent-focused business processes and an ethos of service to the community. Coordin . . .

Civic leaders offer their evaluation of Illinois' finances.(News & Numbers)
A recent report by the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago warns of financial crisis in the State of Illinois if the state does not take corrective action. The report calls on state le . . .

Calculator for biofuel feasibility.(News & Numbers)(Brief article)
A new computer program can help municipal power providers determine the costs of moving to "green" sources. The free Biopower Toolkit helps judge the feasibility of using biofuels--such as wood, ani . . .

Increased revenue and spending for states in FY 2006.(News & Numbers)
States posted the highest balances seen in years in their primary accounts in FY '06, according to the Fiscal Survey of the States. The annual report, a collaboration of the National Governors Assoc . . .

CalPERS expanding horizons.(News & Numbers)(California Public Employees' Retirement System)(Brief article)
The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) recently announced a three-year plan to offer its own set of investment products to local government workers outside of their pensions. I . . .

Growth of public wi-fi.(News & Numbers)(Brief article)
According to a new research report by Muniwireless.com, more than $3 billion will be spent over the next four years to build and operate public wireless networks for U.S. municipalities. The success . . .

Information technology and the finance officer.(from the editor)(Editorial)
Annually, GFOA produces an issue of the Government Finance Review focused on technology Each year, there are advances in technology to report on, as well as new ways governments have found to use te . . .

A little financial training goes a long way: state and local agency directors and other senior officials can be proactive to ens
When I was a state budget officer, a department head called me one afternoon in a panic. The fiscal year end was months away, but his agency had already spent too much and he was going to have to la . . .

Calendar.(Calendar)
[state association events] December North Carolina Local Government Budget Assn. December 6-8 Pinehurst, NC www.sog.unc.edu/organizations/budget/ January Nevada GFOA January 28-30 Sparks, NV . . .

Best of breed examples: guidelines for your government budget.(The Bookshelf)(Preparing High Quality Budget Documents)(Book revi
Preparing High Quality Budget Documents John Fishbein Government Finance Officers Association www.estoregfoa.org 2006, 270pp $45, GFOA members $70, nonmembers The GFOA's recently released . . .

GASB re-examines Fund Balance Reporting and Definitions of Fund Types: the Governmental Accounting Standards Board is looking fo
In late October, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) released an invitation to comment (ITC) document on Fund Balance Reporting and Governmental Fund Type Definitions. The new ITC sug . . .

2006 retirement roundup and insights for 2007: public sector pension plans may come under scrutiny from Congress during 2007.(Fe
Despite active campaigning for the 2006 mid-term elections, members of Congress spent significant time this year considering important changes in the areas of pension and retirement. In 2007, financ . . .

Best practices for capital project analysis: decision makers need to analyze a proposed capital investment from many perspective
WHY ANALYSIS OF CAPITAL PROJECTS IS IMPORTANT Decisions regarding capital projects can have important impacts on the fiscal health of communities for a variety of reasons. By definition capital pr . . .

Building relationships and reaching your potential: the opposite of networking is not working. In other words, if you are not ma
Networking is one of the most overused and misunderstood words in common vocabulary today When you hear the word networking what comes to mind? * Getting something from someone else * Using othe . . .

Managing ERP after go-live: who owns the system? Oakland County, Michigan, manages ongoing ERP system upkeep and development thr
After an enterprise resource planning computer system goes live, the government must transition from a project mode of operation to ongoing maintenance and support, where members of the project team . . .

An exercise in cost saving: carsharing.(Philadelphia, Pennsylvania)
Fleet reduction programs can generate large cost savings for municipal governments, but they will not be successful unless expectations and behavior of the fleet users' change. For example, in one c . . .

Effective budget management: take a fresh look at your workforce.
Once a year, organizations produce a realistic operations budget and constituent approval from voters, elected officials, and department managers. However, acceptance of the annual budget is only on . . .

Note to budget professionals: policy analysts support policy and operational decision making.
Citizens continue to expect more public services with the same, if not fewer resources, so public sector professionals increasingly are managing for results and greater efficiency. This means they a . . .

City of Torontos' long-term fiscal plan.(Government Finance Officers Association's Award for Excellence in Government Finance )
Editor's note: In 2006, the City of Toronto received GFOA's Award for Excellence in Government Finance in the budgeting and financial planning category for its long-term fiscal plan. Much has been . . .

A private sector solution for an enduring public sector problem?(ONLINE BUDGETING TECHNOLOGY)(corporate performance management h
Budgeting has been traditionally one of the most difficult of government business processes for technology to support. Each government's budget process is distinct, making it a challenge for vendors . . .

The people speak.(News & Numbers)(voters decide on taxes and eminant domain)(Brief article)
In early November, Americans across the country not only voted for representation but registered their opinions on other governmental actions. Major tax cuts, along with tax and spending limits on t . . .

Technology for shared services.(News & Numbers)(global survey)(Brief article)
In August 2006, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) queried 127 public sector executives on the opportunities and challenges entailed by using shared services in government. The scope of response . . .

New trends in government.(News & Numbers)(Brief article)
Governments are being challenged to perform in different ways as the times change. A new report from the IBM Center for the Business of Government identifies six trends that are transforming governm . . .

A positive note on states' healthcare spending.(News & Numbers)(Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured's report)(Brief
A recent study from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured indicates that state revenue growth in FY 2006 exceeded Medicaid cost growth for the first time since the late 1990s. The repo . . .

Correction.(Correction notice)
In the October 2006 issue of Government Finance Review, the article "Staying on Track, Crafting a Capital Program Reporting System" misidentified the software Primavera as a MS product. It is produc . . .

Wireless considerations.(News & Numbers)(municipal provision of wireless internet)(Report)
The Federal Trade Commission recently issued a report, "Municipal Provision of Wireless Internet," noting the possibility of competitive risks arising from municipal participation in wireless Intern . . .

Budgeting the NACSLB way.(from the editor)(National Advisory Council on State and Local Budgeting)(Editorial)
The National Advisory Council on State and Local Budgeting firmly established the concept that budgeting is much more than an annual funding allocation process. NACSLB provided four guiding principl . . .

The difficult art of improving government: governments can become more customer-focused and productive.(Commentary)
Everyone who thinks much about local government realizes sooner or later that there's a holy grail for public administration: doing more with less. That is, the secret to satisfying citizens is to p . . .

Calendar.(Calendar)
[state association events] September New England States GFOA September 10-13 Mashantucket, CT www.nesgfoa.org Ohio GFOA September 12-14 Cincinnati, OH www.ohgfoa.com Western Cana . . .

A great books list for government.(The Bookshelf)(Bibliography)
Summer and the time for "beach reads" is almost over. Perhaps now is the time to turn to the serious side and devote some time to reading, or rereading,something that might challenge you to think ab . . .

Initial GASB position on derivatives: the GASB's recent proposal would extend the requirement for fair value reporting to all de
This past spring, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) published its initial position on the appropriate treatment of derivatives in the form of the preliminary views document (PV) Acc . . .

President signs tax bill: new regulations and burdens on state and local governments: several portions of the new Tax Increase P
On May 17, President Bush signed the $70 billion Tax Increase Prevention and Reconciliation Act of 2005 (TIPRA). The tax bill was designed to provide a short-term solution to the increasing applicat . . .

Five critical factors: preparing for success in implementing performance management: GFOA has identified five key factors typica
While many local governments now use some form of performance measurement, far fewer have successfully completed the transition to a performance management system--integrating performance measuremen . . .

Self insuring: how one group of public institutions did it: Wisconsin's Technical College System's insurance venture, Districts
Is it possible to start your own insurance company? How about starting one with other public institutions? That's what Wisconsin's 16 technical colleges did, and they have found it to be a successfu . . .

Increasing professional and personal productivity through managing stress.
In today's fast-paced environment, all of us, whether in our personal or professional lives, are called upon to do more than we did in the past. Couple this with the fact that we often have fewer re . . .

If I pass the baton, who will grab it? Creating bench strength in Public Management.(Reprint)
Reprinted with permission from the September 2005 issue of Public Management (PM) magazine published by the International City/County Management Association, Washington, D. C. A Baby Boomer who is . . .

Combining leadership & management skills.
Good public sector managers need to be both good managers and good leaders. But what approach to leadership should the public finance manager take? The role of a financial manager cannot be solely t . . .

From control to collaboration ... finance shifts its focus.
Everyone would likely agree that the most successful organizations are those that see change coming and respond in ways that meet the needs and the desires of their customers. A recent example can b . . .

Public finance as a profession.
Amid this unique compendium of articles addressing the career development challenges, opportunities, and resources for governmental finance officers, I will attempt to provide a broader perspective . . .

Meet your new president-elect and executive board.
GFOA is governed by an 18-member Executive Board, which consists of 15 members-at-large serving staggered three-year terms, the current president, the previous year's president, and the president-el . . .

A century of progress in government finance: 2006 Annual Conference recap.(News & Numbers)(Conference news)
The historic city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada, served as the setting for GFOA's 100th Annual Conference. Approximately 6,000 people attended the three-day event held May 7-10 at the Palais des congr . . .

Focus on financial leadership.(president's message)
As GFOA embarks on its second century of excellence to governments throughout the world, I am honored to serve as your 100th President. Our association has flourished through recessions, depressions . . .

Coming to grips with other post-employment benefits.(from the executive director)
Post-retirement healthcare and other post-employment benefits (OPEB) are certainly nothing new to the public sector, where they have long been an important element of employee compensation. All the . . .

Collaborate or collapse--tough New England message.(Commentary)
Call it, if you will, the American way: thousands of tiny little governments, each with its own council, each in command of its own tax collector, police and fire chiefs, emergency call center, road . . .

Calendar.(Calendar)
[gfoa events] August Chicago, Illinois 8-12 Governmental Accounting Bootcamp--"Accounting and Auditing for State and Local Governments: A Comprehensive Introduction" Madison, Wisconsin 15- . . .

Turning around America's most unpopular institution.(Many Unhappy Returns: One Man's Quest to Turn Around the Most Unpopular Org
Many Unhappy Returns: One Man's Quest to Turn Around the Most Unpopular Organization in America Published by Harvard Business School Press www.hbsp.harvard.edu 2005; 336 pages, $26.95 Charles . . .

Pollution remediation obligations: the GASB's preliminary views document on accounting and financial reporting for pollution rem
Earlier this year, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board offered its "preliminary views" on Accounting and Financial Reporting for Pollution Remediation Obligations. The GASB defines a polluti . . .

Protecting tax-exempt bonds and tax incentives: a recent appeals court decision and the ongoing debate over tax reform at the fe
Building infrastructure and attracting business are two of the most basic objectives of local governments. For many years, tax-exempt debt and tax incentives have been the primary tools for achievin . . .