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State and Local Public FinanceSpring 2015, Professor Yinger
Lecture 1
Introduction and Overview
State and Local Public FinanceLecture 1: Introduction and Overview
Class Outline
Course Requirements
The U.S. Federal System
Overview of Course Topics
State and Local Public FinanceLecture 1: Introduction and Overview The Federal System in the U.S.
Broad outlines defined by constitutions Details determined by politics
Units Defined by U.S. Constitution The Federal Government State Governments
Units Defined by State Constitutions The State Government Counties and (usually) Townships Municipalities (Cities and Villages) School Districts Special Districts
State and Local Public FinanceLecture 1: Introduction and Overview County Township Municipality School District
State and Local Public FinanceLecture 1: Introduction and Overview No townships in the South and West.
No counties in Connecticut, Rhode Island, and the District of Columbia.
DC, Maryland, North Carolina, Alaska, and
Hawaii have no independent school districts. Hawaii has one state district.
16 states have dependent and independent
school districts.
Virginia has 1 independent and 135 dependent school systems.
Louisiana has 69 independent school districts and one dependent school system.
Source: Census of Governments, 2012
State and Local Public FinanceLecture 1: Introduction and Overview The U.S. has lots of special districts:
38,266 in 2012.
8 states have over 1,000 special districts (Illinois, California, Colorado, Missouri, Kansas, Washington, Nebraska, and Oregon).
Special districts vary greatly by state; the most common are:
Fire Protection Districts (5,865) Water Supply Districts (3,522) Housing and Community Development Districts
(3,438) Drainage and Flood Control Districts (3,248).
Source: Census of Governments, 2012
State and Local Public FinanceLecture 1: Introduction and Overview
1952 20120
20000
40000
60000
80000
100000
120000
67,355
12,880
12,319
37,203
17,202
16,360
16,807
19,519
3,052
3,031
Number of Governments, by Type of Gov-ernment, 1952 and 2012
School Districts Special Districts TownshipsMunicipalities Counties
State and Local Public FinanceLecture 1: Introduction and Overview
State and Local Public FinanceLecture 1: Introduction and Overview
State Examples, 2012
* Also has dependent school districts.
State Total Count Town Muni Schl Specl
Alaska 177 14 0 148 *0 15
California 4,425 57 0 482 *1,025 2,861
Hawaii 21 3 0 1 1(Dp) 17
Illinois 6,963 102 1,431 2,729 905 3,227
Mass. 857 5 298 53 *84 417
Nebraska 2,581 93 419 530 272 1,267
New York 3,453 57 929 617 *679 1,174
Penn. 4,897 66 1,546 1,015 514 1,756
Texas 5,147 254 0 1,214 *1,079 2,600
Virginia 518 95 0 229 *1 193
State and Local Public FinanceLecture 1: Introduction and Overview
State and Local Revenue
States receive about 1/3 of their revenue from the federal government, mainly for TANF and Medicaid.
Local governments receive about 1/3 of their revenue from their state, mainly for education.
Local own-source revenue comes mainly from the property tax.
State and Local Public FinanceLecture 1: Introduction and Overview
State and Local Public FinanceLecture 1: Introduction and Overview
State and Local Expenditure
State and local governments divide responsibility for education, highways, welfare.
About 30% of their spending is for education, often split about 50-50.
Highways are a surprisingly low 5% of spending.
State and Local Public FinanceLecture 1: Introduction and Overview
State and Local Public FinanceLecture 1: Introduction and Overview This course examines spending
and taxation in the U.S. federal system.
Determinants of local spending Evaluating tax policies Fiscal aspects of economic
development Intergovernmental fiscal relations
Many of the principles apply to the federal systems in other countries.
State and Local Public FinanceLecture 1: Introduction and Overview The course covers both positive
and normative analysis.
Positive analysis: Examines the behavior of voters,
businesses, and government officials.
In principle, positive statements can be tested against evidence.
Normative analysis: Examines the best choices for
public officials to make. Combines positive analysis with
values—yours!
State and Local Public FinanceLecture 1: Introduction and Overview Positive Analysis, Examples
(which may or may not be true)
People with higher incomes vote for higher levels of local public services, all else equal.
Communities with higher property tax rates have lower house values, all else equal.
Lowering a city’s property tax rate has little impact on its employment.
School districts with more disadvantaged students have to spend more to achieve any given level of student performance.
State and Local Public FinanceLecture 1: Introduction and Overview
Normative Analysis, Examples (with which you may or may not agree)
Prison provision should be contracted out to private companies.
A property tax is a better way to finance local public services than a local income tax.
Cities should not use property tax exemptions to promote economic development.
States should give more education aid to school districts with a high concentration of at-risk students.
State and Local Public FinanceLecture 1: Introduction and Overview Intellectual Honesty
Separating positive and normative arguments may be the most difficult task in a public policy debate.
Many people start with a favorite program and then cherry-pick the evidence that supports their position.
This approach undermines their own objectives.
You should use the best available evidence to determine which programs best meet your objectives.
State and Local Public FinanceLecture 1: Introduction and Overview Class Conference
At the end of this class, you will present your proposals for reform in state or local public finance; many of them will be more sensible than what is actually being discussed in state legislatures.
After this class, some of you will be able to implement your proposals or develop other ones when your work in state and local governments.
My hope is that your proposals will be at least a little better because you took this class!
State and Local Public FinanceLecture 1: Introduction and Overview Class Conference, Cont.
We are slowly coming out of a recession, and state and local governments are struggling.
Their service needs are up.
Their revenues are down.
They need your help!!!
State and Local Public FinanceLecture 1: Introduction and Overview Class Conference, Cont.
You should have no trouble finding good topics. Recent examples:
Municipalization of Boulder’s Electric Utility. The Costs and Benefits of Privatization of Wine and
Spirits Sales in Pennsylvania. Privatization of New York City Subway Services. County Medicaid Mandate and Property Tax Relief. Social Impact Bond to Address Growing Homeless
Population. New York State Infrastructure Facilitation Package. New Jersey’s Historic Property Reinvestment Act. Selecting Financing for Water Storage Infrastructure In
California. New York State Brownfield Cleanup Program. Financing California High-Speed Rail. Reforming Utah’s Flat Tax System. Privatization of New Jersey’s State Lottery.
