Managing the Fiscal Metropolis: The Financial Policies, Practices, and Health of Suburban Municipalities (American Government and Public Policy)

Managing the Fiscal Metropolis: The Financial Policies, Practices, and Health of Suburban Municipalities is an important book. This first comprehensive analysis of the financial condition, management, and policy making of local governments in a metropolitan region offers local governments currently dealing with the Great Recession a better understanding of what affects them financially and how to operate with less revenue. Hendrick's groundbreaking study covers 264 Chicago suburban municipalities from the late 1990s to the present. In it she identifies and describes the primary factors and events that affect municipal financial decisions and financial conditions, explores the strategies these governments use to manage financial conditions and solve financial problems, and looks at the impact of contextual factors and stresses on government financial decisions. Managing the Fiscal Metropolis offers new evidence about the role of contextual factors― including other local governments―in the financial condition of municipalities and how municipal financial decisions and practices alter these effects. The wide economic and social diversity of the municipalities studied make its findings relevant on a national scale. Cover Contents List of Illustrations Preface List of Acronyms 1 Introduction 2 Local Government Financial Condition and Fiscal Stress 3 Financial Decision Making in Municipal Government 4 Suburban Fiscal Governance 5 Fiscal Threats and Opportunities: What Creates Fiscal Stress and Munificence 6 Financial Problem Solving: Tools for Managing Threats and Opportunities 7 Financial Problem Solving: Tools for Managing Financial Condition 8 Municipal Fiscal Health: Practice, Governance, and Policies APPENDIX 1: Operationalization of Financial Condition Measures and All Other Variables APPENDIX 2: Sampling Methodology for Interviews of Municipal Governments, 2003 APPENDIX 3: Interview Questions, 2003 APPENDIX 4: Interview Codes, 2003 APPENDIX 5: News Article Codes, 2001–6 APPENDIX 6: Interviewed Agencies, 2009–10 APPENDIX 7: Grouping of Municipalities and Their Features Glossary A B C E F G H I L O P R S T Y References Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T V W Y Z Introduction -- Local Government Financial Condition And Fiscal Stress -- Financial Decision Making In Municipal Government -- Suburban Fiscal Governance -- Fiscal Threats And Opportunities : What Creates Fiscal Stress And Munificence -- Financial Problem Solving : Tools For Managing Threats And Opportunities -- Financial Problem Solving : Tools For Managing Financial Condition -- Municipal Fiscal Health : Practice, Governance, And Policy. Rebecca M. Hendrick. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. A comprehensive analysis of the financial condition, management, and policy making of local governments in a metropolitan region that offers local governments currently dealing with the Great Recession a better understanding of what affects them financially and how to operate with less revenue.