Recently in Cities & Towns Category

Source: Charles D. Sakai and Genevieve Ng, California Public Employee Relations, no. 199, May 2010
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In May 2008, the City of Vallejo took the bold and controversial step of fling for protection under chapter 9 of the United States Bankruptcy Code. The charter city, located about forty-five miles northeast of San Francisco, had faced years of increasing general fund costs and decreasing revenues. For several years running, Vallejo's budget "suffered multi-million dollar deficits," and by the end of the 2007-08 fiscal year, its "reserves were exhausted." The general fund deficit hovered at around $17 million at the end of the 2007-08 fiscal year only to grow to $22 million in the second quarter of the next fiscal year.

Coupled with soaring labor costs -- nearly 85 percent of its general-fund budget -- sales tax, real property taxes, and other fees and taxes fell, producing a projected $10 million budget deficit in fiscal year 2008-09. Unable to borrow from its restricted funds and unable to access private credit markets because of insufficient cash-flow, the city was technically insolvent (i.e., it would be unable to pay its general fund obligations in the coming fiscal year). With its May 23, 2008, declaration of bankruptcy, Vallejo became the most-populated U.S. city to file for chapter 9 protection. As Vallejo prepares to emerge from bankruptcy, its experience can provide lessons for other public agencies facing difficult fiscal shortfalls. This article examines municipal bankruptcy using the City of Vallejo as an illustrative case-study regarding the interplay between the federal Bankruptcy Code and state law, including the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act.

Source: Robin Peterson, In these Times, May 17, 2010

Chicagoans cut out the elected middle man to improve their neighborhood with $1.3 million in taxes.

Source: Alan Berube, William H. Frey, Alec Friedhoff, Emily Garr, Emilia Istrate, Elizabeth Kneebone, Robert Puentes, Audrey Singer, Adie Tomer, Howard Wial, Jill H. Wilson, Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program, 2010

Part 1
Part 2

From the summary:
The State of Metropolitan America is a signature effort of the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program that portrays the demographic and social trends shaping the nation's essential economic and societal units--its large metropolitan areas--and discusses what they imply for public policies to secure prosperity for these places and their populations.

This report focuses on the major demographic forces transforming the nation and large metropolitan areas in the 2000s. In this sense, it previews what we will learn from the results of the 2010 Census, as well as supplements those results in important ways. It includes chapters that correspond to nine of the most important subjects tracked by the Census Bureau in its annual American Community Survey, along with the policy implications of the findings.
See also:
- State of Metropolitan America: Chapters
- State of Metropolitan America Index Page
- Interactive Indicator Map
- Video Clips
- Executive Summary

Source: Penelope Lemov, Governing, April 15, 2010

We've all heard the "good" news: The recession is over. Among the positive signs is consumer spending. U.S. retailers industry collectively reported a 9.1 percent sales increase at stores open at least a year, the strongest showing since 2000.

We're all aware, too, of the bad news: States and localities are recovery-challenged. The problem for policymakers who would like to give states and localities a helpful push up the recovery ladder is that the troubles that bedevil those economies are not evenly distributed.

Source: Kelly LeRoux, Paul W. Brandenburger, Sanjay K. Pandey, Public Administration Review, Vol. 70 no. 2, March-April 2010
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From the abstract:
Local governments increasingly confront policy problems that span the boundaries of individual political jurisdictions. Institutional theories of local governance and intergovernmental relations emphasize the importance of networks for fostering service cooperation among local governments. Yet empirical research fails to examine systematically the effects of social networks on interlocal service cooperation. Do the individual networks of local government actors increase their jurisdiction's level of interlocal service delivery? Drawing data from the National Administrative Studies Project IV (NASP-IV), multivariate analysis is applied to examine this question among 919 municipal managers and department heads across the United States. The findings indicate that interlocal service cooperation increases when jurisdictional actors network frequently through a regional association or council of government and when they are united by a common set of professional norms and disciplinary values. Manager participation in professional associations, however, does not increase interjurisdictional cooperation. The key conclusion for local government practitioners searching for ways to increase collaboration: networks that afford opportunities for more face-to-face interaction yield better results for effective service partnerships.

Source: Timothy B. Krebs, John P. Pelissero, Public Administration Review, Vol. 70 no. 2, March-April 2010
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From the abstract:
What influences the degree to which city councils support reinventing government (REGO)? Controlling for environmental factors that are likely to shape council policy adoption as well as the tenure of the chief administrator, the findings of this study underscore that the type of representation system is most consistently related to opposition to REGO. In addition, the economic health of the city and the tenure of the chief administrator are positively associated with council support. Overall, institutional factors affect council policy adoption more than either environmental factors or an administrator's seniority, at least in this policy area.

Source: Deborah A. Carroll, Terri Johnson, Public Administration Review, Vol. 70 no. 2, March-April 2010
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From the abstract:
How diversified are small town revenues? Revenue diversification is analyzed among towns governed by town meetings. Using previously developed diversification measures, the findings confirm that these localities draw from less diverse revenue streams than other state and local governments. The reasons for these variations include differences in home rule status as well as tax and expenditure limitations imposed by states. The authors suggest that revenue allocation in these jurisdictions is substantively different from other forms of local government because these communities rely much less on sales taxation than states and municipalities. Their essay proposes possible options for improvement, along with other criteria by which small towns can assess their revenue diversification.

Source: Christopher W. Hoene, Research Brief on America's Cities, Issue 2009-4, December 2009

From the press release:
National League of Cities recently released a new report projecting the municipal sector will face budget shortfalls combined with cuts in state aid to range between $56 billion and $83 billion over the next three years. Federal investment through a jobs package would help stabilize city budgets allowing cities to save and create local, public and private sector jobs.

In addition to budget shortfalls due to declining sales, income, and property tax revenue collections, the NLC report indicates municipal budget shortfalls are also increasing due to cuts in state assistance to local governments. Many cities are receiving almost no assistance from state governments, and in some cases states are recapturing that assistance to reduce their own budget gaps.

In response to continuing declining economic conditions and the prospect of budget shortfalls, cities are laying off staff, delaying or canceling infrastructure projects, and making cuts to public safety services. Together, these measures can have devastating impacts on the employment level in local communities and leave a deep and lasting impact on the national economy. Local budget cuts could result in 600,000 public and private sector job losses in 2010 and another 900,000 in 2011. One in seven cities is beginning to cut public safety services, usually only done as a last resort.

Source: National Employment Law Project, January 10, 2010

Urban areas across the United States (including Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Chicago, Minneapolis, San Francisco, and St. Paul) have limited discrimination in city and county jobs against people with criminal records. As Mayor Richard Daley explained when he announced Chicago's new hiring policy, "Implementing this new policy won't be easy, but it's the right thing to do. . . . We cannot ask private employers to consider hiring former prisoners unless the City practices what it preaches."

Source: Carol W. Lewis and Joseph Mello, Government Finance Review, Vol. 25 no. 6, December 2009
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A survey of the budget and finance offices in the largest city in each state answers the question, how are large cities around the United States confronting the recession?