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In this paper, I argue that we should replace poorly designed fiscal rules constraining cities and other local governments. For example, instead of requiring a local supermajority to issue debt, localities should only be able to issue relatively safe forms of debt. Abolishing the old rule enhances local autonomy, while instituting the new rule channels localities away from the poor outcomes that reasonably motivated the (ineffective) old rule. The ultimate rationale for the shift is that localities should not have their fiscal autonomy hamstrung because there are specific issues, such as the design of financial instruments, over which they are at a comparative disadvantage. The specific limitations governing localities should be - and can be - designed to address specifically the limitations that local governments actually have. It is not a coincidence that many of the crude rules to be replaced date from the nineteenth century. I conclude by applying this reasoning to another area in which localities are constrained by poorly designed and overbroad fiscal rules: taxation. On taxation, I arrive at a similar conclusion. Localities should be much freer to raise taxes, particularly property taxes, but they should be constrained in their design of taxes, particularly tax bases.
This book examines the issues and consequences of a declining property tax base with respect to local government autonomy. Some of the nation's leading scholars provide their views on how the property tax effects intergovernmental relations, local autonomy, and education finance. --from publisher description
How freely can local jurisdictions change their taxes and spending? I propose an empirical test of the effective degree of municipal fiscal autonomy by studying fiscal adjustments to a permanent exogenous revenue shift. Based on a tax competition model where jurisdictions are are partially expenditure constrained, I derive a testable prediction: tax cuts triggered by a small positive exogenous revenue shock will be larger with higher perceived tax-base mobility, the more fiscally constrained is the local decision maker. I apply this test using a revenue shock generated by a reform in an inter-municipal equalization scheme within a Swiss canton. Tax-base mobility is proxied by the availability of zoned land reserves. I find that higher residential land availability is associated with stronger tax rate responses, but I find no statistically significant results for industrial land reserves. In light of the theory, this suggests that the effective degree of fiscal autonomy of local jurisdictions is low. Usual indicators of fiscal decentralization based on public accounts might overestimate the actual autonomy of local governments.
This century has seen the continuation of long-term trends in the movement of the territorial boundaries of nation states alongside the emergence of new tensions. The repercussions of the Scottish referendum and the heightened urgency of the Catalonia question along with the continued economic problems faced by the Eurozone have given new energy and context to debates on institutional and fiscal autonomy. Assessing the impact of increasing calls for wider fiscal autonomy in the UK, Spain, Switzerland, Argentina, Brazil, Germany, Italy and the USA this volume updates and adds significant new context to the debate. Framing the discussion on fiscal autonomy and drawing out ethical considerations it portrays the problems connected with the devolution of responsibilities and financial resources to sections of the population, sometimes content to be part of a lower layer of government, sometimes aspiring to an asymmetrical position or total independence.
The Model Rules of Professional Conduct provides an up-to-date resource for information on legal ethics. Federal, state and local courts in all jurisdictions look to the Rules for guidance in solving lawyer malpractice cases, disciplinary actions, disqualification issues, sanctions questions and much more. In this volume, black-letter Rules of Professional Conduct are followed by numbered Comments that explain each Rule's purpose and provide suggestions for its practical application. The Rules will help you identify proper conduct in a variety of given situations, review those instances where discretionary action is possible, and define the nature of the relationship between you and your clients, colleagues and the courts.
State and Local Finances under Pressure explores the future of state and local government fiscal systems given the numerous pressures they face from economic, legal, technological, demographic and political forces. It explores how these multiple forces play out in terms of the changes state and local governments should and are likely to make. The contributors argue that state and local governments must make substantial changes and that failure to act is likely to result in adverse effects and increasing pressures for modifications that are more difficult to implement and more politically unpalatable. Without reform, state and local fiscal systems will grow increasingly out of sync with economic reality. The authors suggest that government responses are likely to be evolutionary, but that in 25 years the recorded changes will be substantial. The first chapter provides a historic perspective of state and local fiscal trends. Each of the subsequent chapters describes the nature of one of the pressures state and local governments face including: political and legal forces, globalization of business, demographic and technological changes, deregulation of utilities, and urban sprawl. Policymakers, economists, political scientists, fiscal policy analysts and public administrators will find this comprehensive book of interest.
The ability of a nation to finance its basic infrastructure is essential to its economic well-being in the 21st century. This book covers the municipal securities market in the United States from the perspective of its primary capital financing role in
Local Tax Policy: A Primer provides the definitive discussion of how local governments raise revenue. The fourth edition addresses the fundamental influences on local tax and revenue policy including interjurisdictional competition, the politics of anti-taxation, and the relationships with state and federal governments. The primary sources of revenue are discussed from a policy perspective noting the pros and cons of the property tax, local sales and income taxes, and nontax revenue such as intergovernmental aid and user fees.