Browsing by Subject "Municipal finance"
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Item A study of the basic criteria and standards for Internal Service Funds(Texas Tech University, 1987-08) Chang, Stanley YiNot availableItem An Investigation of the effect of alternative presentation formats on preparers and users of city financial reports(Texas Tech University, 1987-12) Hebert, Marcel GFinancial statements are one of the means by which accounting information is transmitted to individuals interested in the financial affairs of a city. The order in which data is presented determines, to some extent, the totals and subtotals that are included in a financial statement and, consequently, may affect the "messages" conveyed to the readers of the statement. This study was conducted primarily to determine whether the use of alternative presentation formats for the GAAP-based general government operating statement influences the perceptions of preparers and users of city financial reports concerning the impact of current-year operations on the well-offness of cities. Also, the study was intended to provide insight into the opinions of these individuals with regard to (a) the meaning of the term "operating results" and (b) the relative usefulness of several presentation formats for the GAAP-based operating statement for the general government activities of cities. The data, obtained from a mail survey of 1,200 preparers and users of city financial reports, was analyzed by means of multivariate analysis of variance techniques. The results are consistent across respondent types and clearly indicate that the use of alternative presentation formats does influence the perceptions of financial statement readers with regard to whether a city is better off or worse off as a result of current-year general government operations. Also, these results suggest that financial report readers are fixated on the negative aspects of reported revenue-expenditure deficits. The results also indicate that preparers and users of city financial reports consider the general fund to be the most important of the governmental fund types and that the comparison of total resource inflows with total resource outflows best describes or defines the term "operating results" for the general government activities of cities. Further, the results indicate that these individuals (1) prefer operating statements that are presented in a columnar format, (2) prefer formats that provide information on a fund-by-fund basis, and (3) consider the aggregation of information for the operating funds to be useful provided it does not replace the fundby-fund information.Item The costs of a growing city : a case study of Austin, Texas from 1982-2011(2013-05) Ellinor, Benjamin Daniel; Wilson, Robert HinesThis report explores the effects of rapid growth in Austin, Texas, with an emphasis on local government budgets, service delivery, and citizen satisfaction. The relationship between urban growth and public finances has been studied extensively, but a comprehensive analysis of the relationship between growth and public finances, service delivery performance, and citizen satisfaction over time is lacking. A multi-decade analysis reveals a steady increase in the cost of local government services and levels of taxation, with corresponding high performance and citizen satisfaction over time. In light of these findings, recommendations to improve cost-effectiveness, service delivery, and citizen satisfaction include: regular audits of the City’s performance measurement system to ensure the metrics tracked remain relevant to the challenges; better coordination of taxes and expenditures among local government entities to minimize the tax impact on residents; greater consideration of less costly alternative municipal service delivery systems; and concerted efforts to engage residents in the budget and service delivery decisions.Item The formulation and administration of municipal debt policy(Texas Tech University, 1966-05) Bryant, Dewey LynnThe evolution of the bonding process has made it become evident that cities will continue to utilize this method of financing to meet their ever-growing responsibilities and in changing fashion which will reflect an expansion of both the volume and purposes for which bonds will be issued. In view of this change, it also becomes evident that cities should plan their future financing methods as nearly as possible by developing a policy to guide their decisions related to debt incurrence and management. Prudence exercised in the drafting of a municipal debt policy can be Instrumental in avoiding mistakes when decisions regarding the incurrence of additional debt must be made. Therefore, basic tenants set out in such a policy become a valuable management tool and may be paralleled with other accepted management tools such as budgets and planning studies designed to forecast needs and suggested methods '•V *•": of caring for those needs.Item The municipal licensing of business and occupations in Texas: a case study(Texas Tech University, 1970-08) Smith, Jerry LNot availableItem Water as a municipal growth limiting factor: perceptions of the growth coalition compared with other civic leaders in arid southwestern cities(Texas Tech University, 1998-12) Hainze, Thomas WilliamThis research considers a natural resource that may be a limiting factor to municipal growth and the municipal growth machine members attitudes toward that resource. Though several studies of the growth machine are available, little attention has been paid to attitudes toward natural resources that might eventually cause a slowing or cessation of the growth that is important to its financial well being. The research was conducted through the use of mail surveys administered to two categories of respondents: (1) growth machine members (growth coalition), and (2) water experts. Research questions addressed include (1) whether the growth coalition opinion on growth and size differs from water experts, (2) whether the growth coalition agrees with water experts on the status of the water supply, and (3) whether the growth coalition agrees with water experts on types of solutions to water shortages best suited for their situation. In addition, the research considers whether the severity of the of shortage impacts the opinions of the growth coalition relative to water experts by comparing the opinions of the two respondent categories in two cities with projected water shortages, Albuquerque and El Paso with those held by the respondent categories in two cities with adequate water supplies, Amarillo and Lubbock.