Government Finance Review

Browse past and current articles from this publication.

New releases.(News & Numbers)(Book Review)(Brief Review)
Government 2.0 By William Eggers Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2005 Technology is altering the behavior and mission of city halls, statehouses, schools, and federal agencies across America. Fro . . .

Winter Meeting yields 6 recommended practices, 2 public policy statements.(News & Numbers)
Nearly 200 members of six GFOA standing committees gathered in Washington, D.C., January 27-28 for the annual Winter Meeting. In addition to the committee and subcommittee meetings, committee member . . .

Standard setting--how much is enough?(Setting standards for financial reporting)
The special theme of this issue of Government Finance Review is accounting and financial reporting. The selection of this theme was triggered by the recent release of the newest edition of GFOA's cl . . .

On the ludicrous search for the magical performance system.(managing public agencies through perfect system)
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) hav . . .

Calendar.(Calendar)
[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 . . .

Everything you ever wanted your elected officials to know about budgeting (but were afraid to tell them).(Book Review)
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 a . . .

New GASB guidance for employers in cost-sharing pension plans: a new technical bulletin on pension and other postemployment bene
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 a . . .

Watching Washington: what to look for in 2005: from tax policy to health care reform, the 109th Congress will tackle a host of i
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 takes ERP procurement methodology to Canada.(Solutions)(enterprise resource planning system, Government Finance Officers As
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 . . .

Winning the war for talent: Part I--the challenges: the impending retirement boom and resulting worker shortage is one of many w
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 employ . . .

Revenues got you down? Start with your revenue policies.(Best Practices)
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 ou . . .

Collateralized mortgage obligations: are they suitable for public investors?
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 volatili . . .

Financial leadership for the 21st century: an interview with five public sector leaders.(Amy Chan, Cynthia Eisenhauer, Mordecai
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 . . .

A new model for training public sector leaders: the role of self-other perceptions in leadership development.
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 beco . . .

What does leadership in public finance mean to you?
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, re . . .

Unlocking the potential of your employees: the not-so-secret secrets of motivational leadership.
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 phy . . .

Fitch ratings: rising health care costs taking a toll on local government finances.
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, . . .

Letter to the editors.(Letter to the Editor)
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 . . .

CalPERS announces plan to reform executive compensation practices.
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 t . . .

Updated jobs report shows some metros strong, others still struggling.
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 . . .

State revenue pressures ease, but expenditure concerns remain.
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 . . .

ICMA: e-government improves communication and customer service.(International City/County Management Association)(Brief Article)
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 re . . .

Electronic payments exceed check payments for the first time.(News & Numbers)
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 transacti . . .

Finance officers and the leadership imperative.(changing role of government finance professionals)
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 . . .

Watching Osborne's government fixes.(Commentary)(Laboratories of Democracy)
I'm stuck with a David Osborne habit I don't quite know how to shake. It began in 1988 when Osborne wrote Laboratories of Democracy, portraying a generation of ambitious governors making states in . . .

Calendar.(Calendar)
[gfoa events] August Minneapolis, Minnesota 23-24 Designing Performance Measurement Systems (Introductory) 23-24 Treasury Management and Cash Flow Forecasting 23-25 Intermediate Government . . .

Becoming a consummate public servant.(The Bookshelf)(Book Review)
The new context and character of public service--defined by shifting values, entrepreneurship, information technology, and multisector careers--require enhanced technical, ethical, and leadership co . . .

Major changes to CAFR statistical section: GASB statement no. 44 will significantly modify the statistical section of the compre
This past May, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board issued Statement No. 44, Economic Condition Reporting: The Statistical Section (an amendment of NCGA Statement 1). The new standard will si . . .

Changes in Social Security to impact public employers and employees: new legislation designed to prevent fraud and abuse in the
On March 2, President Bush signed into law the Social Security Protection Act of 2004 (Public Law 108-203). While the legislation is primarily intended to reduce fraud and abuse in the Social Securi . . .

Is IT outsourcing right for you? For one government, the common decision about whether or not to outsource information technolog
Technology outsourcing has been a topic of great interest to a number of organizations over the last few years, and has even been a hot topic in the popular media lately. Given this level of interes . . .

Planning a no-sweat presentation: with careful planning, even the most squeamish presenters can learn how to deliver effective p
Studies consistently rank public speaking among the greatest human fears. As such, it should not come as a surprise that for many professionals, the six most dreaded words in the workplace are "you . . .

Taking charge of accounts receivable: proper controls over accounts receivable are an indispensable component of any government'
In 2003, the GFOA Executive Board approved a recommended practice entitled "Revenue Policy: Accounts Receivable Controls." This recommended practice was initiated by the Committee on Cash Management . . .

That's the ticket! Lessons learned from Chicago's parking ticket amnesty program.
Although indicators such as the gross domestic product and the unemployment rate appear to be signaling an improving economic picture, state and local governments continue to struggle in the wake of . . .

IIA and GAO Work to clarify standards differences.(The Institute of Internal Auditors)(U.S. General Accounting Office)
According to an article in the August 2003 Internal Auditor, the U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) and The Institute of Internal Auditors (IIA) are working together to clarify any perceived discr . . .

Shared services: a strategy for reinventing government.
Governments face a widening gulf between the rising expectations of those they serve and their ability to deliver. Right now, funding shortfalls and the looming retirements of baby boomer-generation . . .

The future of the check: how Check 21 and emerging technologies will change our payments system.(Check 21)
As government finance professionals are aware, our national payments system is now undergoing significant evolutionary changes. In the past decade, adoption of electronic payment technologies in bot . . .

Expect the unexpected: financing the Orange County Convention Center expansion in the wake of recession and terrorism.(Tourist D
More and more communities are using sector taxes to finance growing capital improvement programs. Sector taxes, such as those on tourism, investment income, tolls, and landing fees, among others, ar . . .

Make or buy? Using cost analysis to decide whether to outsource public services.(Government Finance Officers Association article
Editor's note: This article is adapted from a new GFOA publication, Cost Analysis and Activity-Based Costing for Government. In this period of tight budgets, many governments are under increasing . . .

Chicago fed: structural factors playing larger role in government fiscal stress.(News & Numbers)(Brief Article)
Structural factors in both revenues and expenditures have played a larger role in the recent budget problems experienced by states in the upper Midwest than in the past, according to a recent report . . .

Defined Contribution Decisions: the Education Challenge.(New Releases)(Bill Tugaw International Foundation of Employee Benefit P
Defined Contribution Decisions: The Education Challenge By Paul Hackleman and Bill Tugaw International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans, 2004 New legislation and regulations have altered the . . .

Consultant: differences among ERP vendors largely irrelevant to finance office performance.(News & Numbers)(enterprise resource
The choice among the six leading ERP software vendors is largely irrelevant in an organization's efforts to drive toward world-class performance in finance, according to new research from The Hacket . . .

Citizen use of e-government on the rise.(News & Numbers)(Pew Internet and American Life Project)
New research by the Pew Internet & American Life Project shows that 97 million adult Americans, or 77 percent of Internet users, took advantage of e-government in 2003--a 50 percent increase over th . . .

Meet your new president-elect and executive board members.(News & Numbers)(Government Finance Officers Association)
GFOA is governed by the 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-e . . .

Milwaukee's old world charm a perfect backdrop: 2004 Annual Conference Recap.(News & Numbers)
Downtown Milwaukee and its spectacular Lake Michigan shoreline served as an ideal setting for GFOA's 98th annual conference--the third time Milwaukee has hosted the conference. Some 6,000 people gat . . .

From finance managers to finance leaders.(president's message)
Outside our professional circles, many have a hard time understanding how public finance officers could be passionate about their work. Yet you and I understand that we work at the vortex of public . . .

A metro merger wave: could it be?(Commentary)(city-county consolidations)(Column)
Could America be ready for a wave of city-county consolidations? Until this year, it would have seemed madness to suggest so. From the 1960s, when Nashville, Jacksonville, and Indianapolis put tog . . .

Calendar.(Brief Article)(Calendar)
[gfoa events] June Milwaukee, Wisconsin (Preconference Seminars) 11 Win-Win? Labor and Management Cooperation Strategies 11 Intergenerational Leadership 12 What's Wrong with Budgeting? (An . . .

An a-to-z guide on capital budgeting and finance.(The Bookshelf)(Book Review)
Capital Budgeting and Finance: A Guide for Local Governments Published by the International City/County Management Association (800) 754-8780 bookstore.icma.org 2004;424 pages: $65.00 Capital pr . . .

Accounting for tobacco settlement revenues.(The Accounting Angle)
In April 2004, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board for the first time promulgated guidance on how state and local governments ought to account for their claim to future payments arising from . . .

Internet access taxes--is the end in sight?(Federal Focus)
On April 30, the U.S. Senate passed a modified version of the Internet Tax Non-Discrimination Act. While the bill would prevent state and local governments from taxing Internet access for another fo . . .