Public Finance

1
Public Finance the Regional Economy

• Bob BrownsteinResearch Director
• April 25, 2006

WORKING PARTNERSHIPS USA
2
4 Segments

• Public Finance
• Public Budgets Finding the Money
• Public Subsidies
• Regional State Strategies

3
PUBLIC FINANCE

• Revenue Driven Rollover Budgets

Segment 1B.Brownstein
4
Revenues/Expenditures Operating

• Property Taxes
• Sales Taxes
• Utility Taxes
• Transiency Occupancy Taxes
• Fees constitutional restrictions
• State Federal Revenues
• Fund Balances
• Enterprise Funds

Segment 1B.Brownstein
5
Revenues/ExpendituresOperating

• Budget Priorities
• Staffing Allocations
• Line Item Detail the hidden information

Segment 1B.Brownstein
6

• Reserves
• Debt
• Capital Budgets
• Revenues
• Expenditure Plans

Segment 1B.Brownstein
7
PUBLIC BUDGETS Finding the Money

• The Guiding Principle He who finds it, keeps
  it.
• The Management Letter
• Historical Data

Segment 2B.Brownstein
8
Revenues/Expenditures

• Sales Taxes
• Comparative data
• Planning data
• Audits
• Property Taxes
• Comparative data
• The assessment process
• Utility Taxes The regulatory climate
• Fees cost recovery

Segment 2B.Brownstein
9
Revenues/Expenditures

• Fund balances excess fund balances contingency
  budgeting
• Fund shifts Grants, CDBG
• Fund shifts Enterprise Funds
• Fund shifts capital

Segment 2B.Brownstein
10
Revenues/Expenditures

• Contingency Reserves
• Special Reserves
• Vacancy Rates

Segment 2B.Brownstein
11
Budget Balancing Strategies

• Eternal Vigilance
• Squeeze the Executive
• Contingency Budgeting
• Review Revenue Projections
• Transfers from Capital

• Selling Assets
• Raising Fees
• Cutting non-essentials
• The CAFR

Segment 2B.Brownstein
usually a blind alley
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Raising Taxes

• What are the rules?
• What are the prospects?

Segment 2B.Brownstein
13
PUBLIC SUBSIDIES

• The Theoretical Basis
• Externalities
• Externalities Blight
• Externalities Community Benefits

Segment 3B.Brownstein
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Redevelopment

• Structures
• Effects
• Criticisms

Segment 3B.Brownstein
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Progressive Opportunities with Redevelopment

• Creation of Hybrid Capital
• Target for Organizing
• Coalition Building

Segment 3B.Brownstein
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Regional State Strategies

• Goal of progressive economic policy is
  directing the allocation of capital.
• Public Capital
• Hybrid Capital
• Private Capital

Segment 4B.Brownstein
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Our Objective

• To direct capital to minimize any additional
  redistributive obligations on government beyond
  those that are unavoidable. By directing capital,
  we meet human needs directly through the economy
  rather than through redistribution. Similarly, we
  reduce inequality at the front end through
  economic development rather than at the back end
  through tax policy.

Segment 4B.Brownstein