Steven C. Deller

Understanding Municipal Fiscal Health provides an in-depth assessment of the fiscal health of cities throughout the United States.The book examines the tools currently available to cities for designing a revenue structure, measuring fiscal conditions and measuring fiscal health. It explains how artificial policies such as tax and expenditure limitations influence fiscal policies, and how communities can overcome socioeconomic and state-policy barriers to produce strong fiscal conditions. The authors go beyond simple theory to analyze patterns of fiscal health using actual financial, demographic and TEL data from an accurate data source, the Government Financial Officers Association survey. The book offers a solid basis of empirical evidence including quantitative case studies—complete with discussion questions—to help practitioners better understand the environment in which they are functioning and the policy tools they need to help advocate for change.This book teaches the reader the science and art of municipal financial analysis, and will be invaluable for local and state officials, analysts, and students and researchers.

Understanding Municipal Fiscal Health provides an in-depth assessment of the fiscal health of cities throughout the United States.The book examines the tools currently available to cities for designing a revenue structure, measuring fiscal conditions and measuring fiscal health. It explains how artificial policies such as tax and expenditure limitations influence fiscal policies, and how communities can overcome socioeconomic and state-policy barriers to produce strong fiscal conditions. The authors go beyond simple theory to analyze patterns of fiscal health using actual financial, demographic and TEL data from an accurate data source, the Government Financial Officers Association survey. The book offers a solid basis of empirical evidence including quantitative case studies—complete with discussion questions—to help practitioners better understand the environment in which they are functioning and the policy tools they need to help advocate for change.This book teaches the reader the science and art of municipal financial analysis, and will be invaluable for local and state officials, analysts, and students and researchers.

With the shifting of responsibility for designing, planning and managing federally funded programs to state and local government, there is a need for a new group of public servants and others to be aware of how to deal with these responsibilities and challenges. The editors have been active in conducting training with state and local policy makers on how to deal with models using the material in this proposed work. The proposed work outlines and documents a set of community level analytical tools and procedures to assist local decision-making processes. The major goals of the work are to provide a reference for future community policy modeling and analysis efforts, and to provide a group of examples of applications of modeling.

This Complete revision of Dr. Shaffer's classic Community Economics provides readers with a comprehensive understanding of economic structure in small communities and urban neighborhoods of America. Authors Shaffer, Deller, and Marcouiller review the economics of smaller communities with continued emphasis on how to build and achieve theoretically sound community economic development policy. The text also demonstrates how local participation and knowledge can be used to identify problems, form solutions, and maintain community support for long-term goals. The main body of economic research and literature has neglected the economics of smaller communities. Community Economics: Linking Theory and Practice fills that information void. This text serves as a comprehensive guide on smaller, open economies and urban neighborhoods for economists, regional planners, rural sociologists, and geographers. Additionally, Community Economics is an issue-oriented handbook of development strategies for development practitioners, planning and zoning officials, and others involved in the ay-to-day activities of community economic development.