Budget and Financial Management
Data Snapshot
In 2006, Congress passed the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act — with the support of USPS — to address the growing OPEB liabilities. This act laid out a 10-year payment plan for USPS to prefund most of its OPEB liabilities, with annual contributions of approximately $5.5 billion.
Given the healthy state of USPS’s pension funds and a history of stable revenues, prefunding OPEB obligations seemed a feasible goal. Unfortunately, the Great Recession and sluggish revenues afterward severely weakened the Postal Service’s ability to make payments while remaining solvent.
After making full contributions through 2010, USPS defaulted on all subsequent payments (Schuyler 2016).
Figure 1 (left) shows USPS’s revenues and expenses from 1972 to 2015. Notably, revenues and expenses were relatively stable from 1972 to 2006. After the prefunding requirement mandate in 2006, expenses became volatile and regularly exceeded revenues.
Notable Research
Fiscal Transparency and Accessibility in the Southern States
This report takes a deep dive into state fiscal transparency practices in the South. It describes the importance of transparency, emphasizies best practices and highlights areas for improvement. The report is part of CSLF’s Balancing the Budget in the Southern States series and draws on earlier research gathered for the Volcker Alliance’s Truth and Integrity in Government Finance project.
Age-Based Homestead Exemption Estimate Calculator (2018)
This brief explains how government officials and citizens can use the Excel-based calculator to roughly estimate revenue effects of new or expanded age-based homestead exemptions for each county and school district in Georgia. This brief and calculator expand on a 2016 CSLF publication. Authors: H. Spencer Banzhaf & Per Johnson.
Publications
Feasibility Study for the Proposed City of East Cobb
Technical Assistance -- City Feasibility Study, December 7, 2018, Staff
The Center for State and Local Finance completed a fiscal feasibility study for a newly incorporated city of East Cobb. This study provides a detailed analysis of the expected revenues and expenditures for the proposed city using generally accepted methodologies that the center has used for similar studies. The main purpose of the analysis is to estimate the ability of the proposed city of East Cobb to meet its expenditures with available revenue sources.
Best Practices in Georgia's Budgeting and Financial Management
CSLF Report, Publication No. 49, November 7, 2018, Alex Hathaway
As stewards of public money, governments must make sound fiscal decisions. This report outlines how Georgia gets the job done by employing certain best practices in financial management. However, the report also points out that Georgia, like all states, still has room for improvement. Topics discussed include budget forecasting, one-time budget, maneuvers, legacy costs, reserve funds, and fiscal transparency. The report is the sixth part of CSLF's Balancing the Budget in the Southern States series.
Budget Maneuvers in the Southern States
CSLF Report, Publication No. 48, October 9, 2018, Alex Hathaway and Jesseca Lighbourne
State officials may resort to budget manipulation approaches, such as using bond proceeds for general fund operating costs. Often used in response to economic distress, these one-time budget maneuvers are less transparent to the public than spending cuts and tax hikes and can push off costs for many years. This report examines these tactics, looking at their complications and use in the South. The report is the fifth part of CSLF's Balancing the Budget in the Southern States series.
Reserve Fund Policies in the Southern States
CSLF Report, Publication No. 47, September 11, 2018, Bethel Habte, Alex Hathaway and Jesseca Lighbourne
Reserve funds, also known as rainy day funds, act as savings accounts to help states weather unexpected fiscal events. States use these funds as one-time measures, such as cyclical downturns and natural disasters. This report looks at the importance of reserve funds and the funding policies in 16 southern states, highlighting best practices and areas for improvement. The report is the fourth part of CSLF's Balancing the Budget in the Southern States series.
OPEB Funding Challenges: The U.S. Postal Service
CSLF Report, Publication No. 46, September 7, 2018, Alex Hathaway
Long-term liabilities such as pensions and other postemployment benefits (OPEB) have become prominent public concerns, due to mounting obligations. Few states prefund OPEB like they do pension plans, but it can be beneficial. One place where this challenge is especially acute is the U.S. Postal Service. This report takes a look at the Postal Service's position and how it is attempting to fund the cost of OPEB and retiree health care. Their challenges may provide valuable insights for states.
OPEB Funding in the Southern States
CSLF Report, Publication No. 44, August 28, 2018, Alex Hathaway
This report examines government retiree health care benefits in the South, namely the funding of other post-employment benefits (OPEB). States typically provide these benefits, primarily health care related, to government employees as part of the compensation package. The report specifically reviews the liabilities in 16 states, including Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia. Examples of states employing best practices, as well as states that have room for improvement, are provided throughout the report. The report is the third part of CSLF's Balancing the Budget in the Southern States series.
Georgia's Budget: The Big Picture (2016)
CSLF Presentation, Nov. 15, 2016, Carolyn Bourdeaux
This briefing gives a high-level overview of the Georgia budget, looking at fiscal years 2017 and 2018. The presentation addresses structural revenue dilemmas, current economic constraints, areas of concern in the state’s expenditures, as well as key topics: K-12 education, higher education, Medicaid and transportation.
Age-Based Property Tax Exemptions in Georgia
CSLF Report, Publication No. 29, Sept. 27, 2016, H. Spencer Banzhaf, Ryan Mickey, Carlianne Patrick
Many local jurisdictions across the United States, including a number in Georgia, offer property tax exemptions to older Americans. These age-based exemptions can vary widely and be controversial. This new report attempts to inform such debates by describing the prevalence of age-based exemptions across Georgia's local governments, as well as offering a way to determine the financial impact on local budgets.
Georgia's Revenue and Expenditure Portfolio in Brief: FY 2013 Data
FRC Brief, Publication No. 286, Aug. 16, 2016, Mels de Zeeuw, Lindsay Kuhn and Carolyn Bourdeaux
This brief provides an overview and analysis of changes in Georgia’s state and local expenditure and revenue portfolios and rankings between fiscal years 1995 and 2013. It is an update to earlier reports. Currently, Georgia ranks 49th in combined state and local own-source revenue and 49th in combined state and local direct expenditures.
Georgia's Rankings Among the States: Budget, Taxes and Other Indicators (2016)
FRC Report, Jan. 11, 2016, Mels de Zeeuw and William Serrano-Franklin
This 2016 guide is an update to an earlier version published in the summer of 2015. It includes a collection of metrics and state rankings that compare Georgia to other states. Several comparisons focus on total state or local government revenue and expenditures, but the guide also includes measures that compare either expenditures or state characteristics within specific functional areas, such as education, health and transportation.
Georgia's Budget: The Big Picture (2016)
CSLF Presentation, Nov. 15, 2016, Carolyn Bourdeaux
This briefing gives a high-level overview of the Georgia budget, looking at fiscal years 2017 and 2018. The presentation addresses structural revenue dilemmas, current economic constraints, areas of concern in the state’s expenditures, as well as key topics: K-12 education, higher education, Medicaid and transportation.
Age-Based Property Tax Exemptions in Georgia
CSLF Report, Publication No. 29, Sept. 27, 2016, H. Spencer Banzhaf, Ryan Mickey, Carlianne Patrick
Many local jurisdictions across the United States, including a number in Georgia, offer property tax exemptions to older Americans. These age-based exemptions can vary widely and be controversial. This new report attempts to inform such debates by describing the prevalence of age-based exemptions across Georgia's local governments, as well as offering a way to determine the financial impact on local budgets.
Georgia's Revenue and Expenditure Portfolio in Brief: FY 2013 Data
FRC Brief, Publication No. 286, Aug. 16, 2016, Mels de Zeeuw, Lindsay Kuhn and Carolyn Bourdeaux
This brief provides an overview and analysis of changes in Georgia’s state and local expenditure and revenue portfolios and rankings between fiscal years 1995 and 2013. It is an update to earlier reports. Currently, Georgia ranks 49th in combined state and local own-source revenue and 49th in combined state and local direct expenditures.
Georgia's Rankings Among the States: Budget, Taxes and Other Indicators (2016)
FRC Report, Jan. 11, 2016, Mels de Zeeuw and William Serrano-Franklin
This 2016 guide is an update to an earlier version published in the summer of 2015. It includes a collection of metrics and state rankings that compare Georgia to other states. Several comparisons focus on total state or local government revenue and expenditures, but the guide also includes measures that compare either expenditures or state characteristics within specific functional areas, such as education, health and transportation.
A Briefing on Georgia's Budget: The Big Picture
CSLF Presentation, November 2015, Carolyn Bourdeaux
This presentation gives a high-level overview of the Georgia budget by addressing structural revenue dilemmas, current economic constraints, areas of concern in the state’s expenditures, and other forces affecting the state budget.
Georgia's Ranking Among the States: Budget, Taxes and Other Indicators
CSLF Report, Publication No. 15, June 16, 2015, Elton Davis
This 2015 guide includes a collection of metrics and state rankings that compare Georgia to other states across the nation. Several of the comparisons focus on total state or local government revenue and expenditures, but the report also includes measures that compare either expenditures or state characteristics within specific functional areas, such as education, health and transportation.
Georgia's Revenue and Expenditure Portfolio in Brief, FY 1995 - FY 2012
CSLF/FRC Report, CSLF Publication No. 13, May 5, 2015, Elton Davis, XiXi Lin and Carolyn Bourdeaux
This joint brief provides an update to the Fiscal Research Center’s report “Georgia’s Revenue and Expenditure Portfolio in Brief, 1989 - 2010," with an overview and analysis of changes in Georgia’s state and local expenditure and revenue portfolios and rankings between fiscal years 1995 and 2012.
A Briefing on Georgia’s Budget FY15A – FY16
Presentation, November 2014, Carolyn Bourdeaux
This presentation details the FY 2015 budget outlook for Georgia, and it explains the state's current revenue dilemma.
Georgia’s Post Great Recession Revenue Recovery
CSLF Brief, Publication No. 3, September 25, 2014, James Alm, David Sjoquist
The “Great Recession” wreaked havoc on the revenues of state and local government, including Georgia’s. Although the U.S. economy has improved since the end of the Great Recession, state government revenues have in most cases still not completely recovered. In this brief, we explore the extent to which state government revenues have recovered from the effects of the Great Recession.
The State and Local Government Workforce: Trends and Patterns in Georgia, the South, and the United States
CSLF Report, Publication No. 2, September 24, 2014, Gregory B. Lewis and Rahul Pathak
This report compares state and local governments (SLGs) workforce patterns in Georgia, the region and U.S. CSLF experts find that Georgia’s governmental workforce faces one of the largest public-private pay disparities in the country. The report goes on to explore pay differentials by state and local government and by sector.
Getting Adjusted to the New Normal. Local Government Finance in Georgia Post-Recession
Presentation, May 15, 2014, Carolyn Bourdeaux
A presentation to the National Law Enforcement Leadership Forum.
State and Federal Public Finance
Presentation, May 15, 2014, Sally Wallace
A presentation to an investment company in Atlanta.