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B&G REPORT.
The B&G Report features newsy items relating to a wide variety of state and local government management topics, including state and local performance audit, state and local performance management, government budgeting, state and local human resource issues, and a variety of other public sector issues.
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IN DEFENSE OF PROPERTY TAXES
“For years, opinion surveys have identified property taxes as the ones Americans hate the most,” according to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL). There are lots of reasons this has been the case. For one thing, property taxes are clearly the most visible of the major tax streams that go to municipalities. As Jon Cannon, executive director of the Nebraska Association of County Officials, told us in a recent conversation, “ It’s a tax you can’t avoid. You ca
greenebarrett
4 min read
BEYOND THE DATA
Not long ago we were at a presentation by an academic about a topic that was of genuine interest to us. As is often the case, she had many interesting slides, showing all of the data she had gathered over months of research. But when one of the members of the audience inquired about the meaning behind the data, her answer was simple. “I don’t know. I only know the numbers.” This was frustrating to us, and we suspect other folks in the audience. But it’s been our experienc
greenebarrett
3 min read
THE COSTS OF TAX INCENTIVES
We don’t get it. Over the years, many cities and states have handed out tax incentives with the notion that they are supposed to have a good return on investment. They’re supposed to bring in jobs and have a ripple effect in neighborhoods in which the incentivized project is located. But that often seems to be an illusion. Elected officials nearly always play up the potential benefits and downplay costs. Fortunately, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board has a standard
greenebarrett
4 min read
WE LOVE THE NITTY GRITTY STUFF
Late last year, Bill Eggers, executive director of Deloitte's Center for Government Insights, wrote on LinkedIn that "Over my decades working on government reform, my one major complaint has always been that think tanks have focused so much time and resources on policy and too little on policy execution and the nitty-gritty of government operations He was playing our song, and we’d like to add that we find the same unfortunate phenomenon doesn’t just exist in think tanks but
greenebarrett
4 min read
TARGETING SPEEDIER FINANCIAL REPORTS
For some time, the complexity of dealing with scores of rules set forth by the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) has become...
greenebarrett
4 min read
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