Financing Municipalities in New England: Revisiting the State-Local Relationship Financing Municipalities in New England: Revisiting the State-Local Relationship

This Event Has Ended This Event Has Ended

Wednesday, December 5, 2007
8 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Morris Auditorium
Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
600 Atlantic Avenue
 

Municipalities in the New England region are experiencing difficulties in raising enough revenue to meet increasing demands for spending. To cope with this long-term fiscal challenge, state and local governments need to cooperate and explore various financing options for municipalities.

On December 5, 2007, the New England Public Policy Center held its third annual conference which investigated the fiscal relationship between New England's state and municipal governments and discussed potential strategies to finance municipalities. Specifically, speakers examined the design of municipal aid formulas and addressed the potential impact of adopting local option sales taxes.

The following conference report that summarizes the proceedings of the event:

NEPPC CR No. 07-1 (June 2008)
"Financing Municipalities in New England: Revisiting the State-Local Relationship"
by Robert Clifford

Conference Agenda and Presentations

Welcome and introduction

Eric Rosengren, President and Chief Executive Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston


Session I: Overview

Richard F. Dye
Professor at the Institute of Government and Public Affairs, University of Illinois
The Dynamic between Municipal Revenue Sources and the State-Local Relationship in New England

NEPPC WP No. 08-1 (February 2008)
"The Dynamic between Municipal Revenue Sources and the State-Local Relationship in New England"
by Richard F. Dye, University of Illinois at Chicago


Session II: Potential strategies and solutions

Bo Zhao
Economist, New England Public Policy Center, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
State Aid to Municipalities: Measuring Local Non-School Fiscal Distress and Designing an Aid Formula

David L. Sjoquist
Professor of Economics and Director of Domestic Programs and of the Fiscal Research Center,
Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University
Understanding the Impact of Adopting Local Options Sales Taxes


Responses from a panel of New England practitioners:

Moderator: Andrew Reschovsky, Professor of Public Affairs and Applied Economics at Robert M. La Follette School of Public Affairs, University of Wisconsin-Madison

Mayor Mary Clare Higgins, City of Northampton, Massachusetts and President of the Massachusetts Municipal Association

Leslie Kirwan, Secretary, Massachusetts Executive Office for Administration and Finance

John Piotti, Maine State Representative and House Chair of the Taxation Committee

Gary Sasse, Executive Director, Rhode Island Public Expenditure Council

Speaker biographies