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Handbook of Local Government Fiscal Health

Author(s): Helisse Levine, PhD, Long Island University, Brooklyn, New York
Eric A. Scorsone, PhD, Co-Chair, State and Local Government Program, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan
Jonathan B. Justice, PhD, MPA, Associate Professor, School of Urban Affairs & Public Policy, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware
Details:
  • ISBN-13: 9780763792305
  • Paperback    472 pages      © 2013
  • Will Publish: 4/11/2012
Price: International Sales $69.95 US List
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Overview

Instructor Resources: Instructor's Manual, PowerPoints, TestBank
(Available April 2012. Contact your Account Specialist to be notified as these resources become available.)

 

Fiscal health of local governments and municipalities has remained an important issue since the crises of the 1970’s in places like New York, Philadelphia and Cleveland.  More recently, the bankruptcy of Orange County California raised the possibility of a different type of financial failure than earlier ones.  The beginning of the 21st century has witnessed two major economic bubbles including the dotcom and housing bubbles.  These economic cycles combined with increasing health care, pension and other structural costs continue to challenge the fiscal viability of many jurisdictions.  In particular, the economic and financial crisis of 2007-2008 is likely to result in potentially serious fiscal challenges for local jurisdictions.

Local Government Fiscal Health reinvigorates the debates around the monitoring, reporting, assessment and management of local government fiscal stress, bankruptcy, and state takeovers. The book provides both a solid conceptual basis for understanding the sources and causes behind local government fiscal stress and crisis, as well as tools for monitoring, reporting, and addressing such crises.  Based on theoretical frameworks as well as empirical evidence and case studies, it also addresses such issues as the impact of GASB 34 and GASB 45 on the assessment of and policies to address fiscal stress and crisis.

Ideal for students of Public Policy and Public Administration, the book seeks to both advance the state of the field in terms of research and frameworks around fiscal stress in local government as well as provide an assessment of the tools, monitoring practices and state and local policies that are used to address situations of fiscal stress.

Key Features:

  • Gathers current thinking and research on the topic for use by academics and students, and updates classic works on fiscal stress and fiscal distress by Terry Clark, Charles Levine, and others.
  • Provides a desk reference for practitioners, especially now that fiscal health is again at the forefront of people's attention.
  • Provides coverage of the full range of concerns and concepts relevant to defining and measuring fiscal health.
  • Provides comprehensive coverage of the many environmental and organizational factors influencing fiscal health.
  • Fill gaps/provide a complement to existing material such as the Honadle et al. Fiscal Health book and the ICMA Financial Trends Monitoring System book. reinvigorates the debates around the monitoring, reporting, assessment and management of local government fiscal stress, bankruptcy, and state takeovers.

ShowTable of Contents

  Chapter  1  Introduction by Eric Scorsone, Helisse Levine, and Jonathan Justice
Part  I  Fiscal Health and Sustainability Concepts and Measures
  Chapter  2  Assessing the Financial Condition of Local Governments: What is Financial Condition and How is it Measured? By Benoy Jacob and Rebecca Hendrick
  Chapter  3  Local Government Fiscal Stress and its Measurement in Theory and Practice By Jonathan Justice and Eric Scorsone
Part  II  Financial Reporting and Modeling
  Chapter  4  The Development of External Financial Reporting and Its Relationship to the Assessment of Fiscal Health and Stress By Dean Michael Mead
  Chapter  5  Long-Term Forecasting By Kenneth A. Kriz
Part  III  Pensions and Other Postemployment Benefits
  Chapter  6  Postemployment Benefits and Fiscal Analysis By Dean Michael Mead
  Chapter  7  Sustainable Approaches to Retiree Benefits: Options and Implementation for Program Design and Financing By Jun Peng
Part  IV  Revenue Elasticity and Adequacy
  Chapter  8  Public-Finance and Fiscal-Federalism Perspectives on Local Government Revenue Bases and Fiscal Sustainability By Donijo Robbins
  Chapter  9  Understanding and Measuring Revenue Elasticity, Volatility, and Implications for Local Government Fiscal Health By Deborah A. Carroll and Christopher B. Goodman
Part  V  Business Cycle, Bubbles, and Reserve Funds: Cutback Management
  Chapter  10  Fiscal Stress and Cutback Management amongst State and Local Governments: What Have We Learned and What Remains to Be Learned? By Christina Plerhoples and Eric Scorsone
  Chapter  11  A Framework for Deciphering and Managing the Fiscal Environment By Josephine M. LaPlante
  Chapter  12  Fiscal Slack, Reserves, and Rainy-Day Funds by Justin Marlowe
  Chapter  13  Managing Investments and Investment Risks By William Albrecht
Part  VI  Intergovernmental and Institutional Considerations
  Chapter  14  Local Government Fiscal Health: An Intergovernmental Perspective By Beth Walter Honadle
  Chapter  15  Monitoring the Fiscal Health of America’s Cities By Lynne A. Weikart
  Chapter  16  Measuring the Impacts of TELs on Municipal Financial Conditions By Craig S. Maher and Steven C. Deller
  Chapter  17  The Defragmentation of Authority: A Consolidation Approach to Public Service Delivery by Helisse Levine
Part  VII  Debt Capacity, Management, and Policy
  Chapter  18  Measurin and Monitoring Debt Capacity and Affordability: Market and Nonmarket-Based Models By Kenneth A. Kriz and Qiushi Wang
  Chapter  19  State Fiscal Constraints on Local Government Borrowing: Effects on Scale and Cost By Juita-Elena (Wie) Yusuf, Jacob Fowles, Cleopatra Grizzle, and Gao Liu
  Chapter  20  Good Debt, Gone Bad: The 2008–2009 Crisis in Municipal Debt Markets By Gary R. Rassel and Robert S. Kravchuk
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ShowAbout the Author(s)

Helisse Levine, PhD-Long Island University, Brooklyn, New York

 

Helisse Levine is assistant professor, Master of Public Administration Program, School of Business, Public Administration and Information Sciences at Long Island University, Brooklyn New York, where she teaches courses in public sector budgeting, healthcare financial management and research methods. She holds a Ph.D. in Public Administration from Rutgers University. Her research interests center on state and local government budgetary decision making, fiscal implications of economic cycles on sub-national governments, transparency in the municipal bond market, and the issue of gender in public administration. She has contributed to the Municipal Finance Journal, Administrative Theory & Praxis, and Gender in Management: an International Journal.
Additional Titles by this Author

Eric A. Scorsone, PhD-Co-Chair, State and Local Government Program, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan

Jonathan B. Justice, PhD, MPA-Associate Professor, School of Urban Affairs & Public Policy, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware

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