The People's Money: Pensions, Debt, and Government Services (The Urban Agenda)

"American cities continue to experience profound fiscal crises. Falling revenues cannot keep pace with the increased costs of vital public services, infrastructure development and improvement, and adequately funded pensions. Chicago presents an especially vivid example of these issues, as the state of Illinois's rocky fiscal condition compounds the city's daunting budget challenges. In The People's Money, Michael A. Pagano curates a group of essays that emerged from discussions at the 2018 University of Illinois at Chicago Urban Forum. The contributors explore fundamental questions related to measuring cities' fiscal health, including the ways for cities to raise revenue, the accountability of today's officials for a city's future financial position, the legal and practical obstacles to pension reform and balancing budgets, and whether political collaboration offers an alternative to the competition that often undermines regional governance"--Publisher's description American cities continue to experience profound fiscal crises. Falling revenues cannot keep pace with the increased costs of vital public services, infrastructure development and improvement, and adequately funded pensions. Chicago presents an especially vivid example of these issues, as the state of Illinois's rocky fiscal condition compounds the city's daunting budget challenges. In The People's Money , Michael A. Pagano curates a group of essays that emerged from discussions at the 2018 UIC Urban Forum. The contributors explore fundamental questions related to measuring the fiscal health of cities, including how cities can raise revenue, the accountability of today's officials for the future financial position of a city, the legal and practical obstacles to pension reform and a balanced budget, and whether political collaboration offers an alternative to the competition that often undermines regional governance.Contributors: Jered B. Carr, Rebecca Hendrick, Martin J. Luby, David Merriman, Michael A. Pagano, David Saustad, Casey Sebetto, Michael D. Siciliano, James E. Spiotto, Gary Strong, Shu Wang, and Yonghong Wu| Cover Title Copyright Contents Preface and Acknowledgments PART ONE: OVERVIEW Introduction PART TWO: WHITE PAPERS Local Government Long-Term Liabilities Contemporary Fiscal Challenges and Positions of US Cities Exploring Urban Governments' Fiscal Challenges Linking Resources to Government Services Beyond Political Consolidation When Public Pension Reforms Fail or Appear to Be Impossible Contributors |"Recommended. All readers." — Choice "Michael Pagano is a leader in thinking and writing about critical government finance issues. In The People's Money , he and the contributors provide sound and thorough research that serves both the academic and the government finance practitioner. I recommend it to those who want to understand government finance challenges so they can better serve their communities."—Chris Morrill, Executive Director/CEO, Government Finance Officers Association | Michael A. Pagano is Dean of the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs, Director of the Government Finance Research Center and a professor of public administration at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). He is a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, nonresident Senior Fellow the Brookings Institution, and editor of The Public Infrastructure of Work and Play, Jobs and the Labor Force of Tomorrow , and other books in the Urban Agenda series. Preface and acknowledgments / Michael A. Pagano. Overview. Introduction / Casey Sebetto. White Papers. Local government long-term liabilities : pensions, other postemployment benefits, and infrastructure / Martin J. Luby, Gary Strong, and David Saustad -- Contemporary fiscal challenges and positions of US cities / Yonghong Wu, Shu Wang, and Michael A. Pagano -- Exploring urban governments' fiscal challenges / David Merriman -- Linking resources to government services : is there a future for benefit-based financing? / Rebecca Hendrick -- Beyond political consolidation : prospects for effective local governance through self-organized collaborative networks / Jered B. Carr and Michael D. Siciliano -- When public pension reforms fail or appear to be impossible : are unbalanced budgets, deficits, and government collapse the only answer? / James E. Spiotto