Financing Municipalities in New England: Revisiting the State-Local Relationship
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
8 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.
Morris Auditorium, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
600 Atlantic Avenue, Boston
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.
We are pleased to release the conference report that
summarizes the proceedings of the event, as well as
the working paper that was written for the conference
by Richard F. Dye.
NEPPC CR No. 07-1 (June 2008)
“Financing Municipalities in New England: Revisiting the State-Local Relationship”
by Robert CliffordNEPPC 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
Presentations from the conference are available here
in portable document format (PDF).
The Dynamic between Municipal
Revenue Sources and the State-Local Relationship in
New England
Richard F. Dye
Professor at the Institute of Government and Public Affairs, University of Illinois at Chicago
State Aid to Municipalities:
Measuring Local Non-School Fiscal Distress and Designing
an Aid Formula
Bo Zhao
Economist, New England Public Policy Center, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston
Understanding the Impact
of Adopting Local Options Sales Taxes
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
Conference Agenda:
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
Session II: Potential strategies and solutions
Bo Zhao
Economist, New England Public Policy Center, Federal Reserve Bank of BostonDavid 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
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
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