Assessing electronic service delivery in municipalities: determinants and financial consequences of e-government implementation

In the Netherlands, electronic service delivery has become an important issue in many municipalities. Using the Internet for service delivery is seen as an important element of e-government. Based on 2014–2016 panel data for all Dutch municipalities, we show that there is a large variety among the municipalities in the extent to which they offer their service delivery digitally. By exploring the factors that may explain the differences among the municipalities, some trends can be discerned. Most notably is the strong relationship of e-government adoption with demographic characteristics, such as population, population density and both older age and younger age groups. Remarkably, we did not find an influence of education and income. Finally, we did not observe a relation between municipal allocated costs and level of e-maturity, hereby leaving the question open if and how e-government can lead to cost reductions.     

The impact of police unionization on municipal budgetary outcomes

This paper explores the potential impact of police employee unionization on municipal budgetary outcomes in a five state area of the southcentral United States. Utilizing municipal budget data taken from annual editions of The Municipal Year Book and unionization data gathered through a survey questionnaire, the research compares union and nonunion cities over time. Results indicate that police unions have exercised some influence on municipal budgetary outcomes, particularly in cities of 50,000-99,999 population.     

The role of global cities in land grabs

Key trends link a globally connected urban archipelago and its hinterlands, warranting new studies of power in its most contemporary forms. This article locates land power and where that power is exercised – looking at the burgeoning global land rush from the perspective of cities. Urbanisation continues to drive vast political transitions, uprooting longstanding agrarian modes of living while creating myriad inequalities within cities. Are the world’s most powerful agglomerations active agents in this transformation? Answering affirmatively, the article reframes urbanisation as a vast, global geopolitical transfer of power from rural to urban. Leading global cities like New York, London, Hong Kong, Chicago and Singapore are not merely impressive collections of factor endowments. They are also sites of concentrated power with coercive influences beyond municipal boundaries. The article asks how cities project power in the contemporary global system. Juxtaposing data on global connectivity with the location strategies of private firms, we learn that the world’s most successful global cities are also sources of exploitative accumulations of land.     

How does intergovernmental fiscal environment affect general fund balances of major American cities?

This study explores the extent to which intergovernmental fiscal factors affect fiscal reserves in municipal general funds. Statistical results from panel data of 87 major cities in the US for the period from 1995 to 2010 show that cities facing more restrictive limitations on local property taxation tend to maintain higher levels of unreserved general fund balances. Additional analyses also show that fiscally constrained cities accumulate surpluses in their general funds. This is consistent with the proactive approach in which municipal governments make fiscal decisions with the awareness of expected state constraints on their revenue-raising capacity. We call for consideration of relevant intergovernmental constraints in the determination of appropriate level of fund balances for municipal governments.     

Local Governments’ Responses to Revenue Changes: The Effects of Unreserved General Fund Balances

ABSTRACT

Volatile revenues affect the quality and consistency of municipal service provision. This article investigates how cities use unreserved general fund balances to mitigate annual expenditure fluctuations when confronted with volatile revenues. Based on the analysis of a panel dataset of over two thousand American cities from 2003 to 2011, the fixed-effects regression results suggest that unreserved general fund balances reduce municipal expenditure fluctuations on a year-to-year basis. The expenditure-smoothing effects were more pronounced when municipal governments experienced large revenue changes. Results are robust when excluding large cities, using different cutting-points to define ‘moderate’ or ‘large’ revenue changes, and in recession and non-recession years. This article contributes to the local expenditure stabilization literature by recognizing the unreserved general fund balances’ expenditure-smoothing effects during ‘non-rainy days.’ It adds empirical evidence to the organizational theory that financial slack works as a crucial buffer against external changes and provides managerial discretion to local administrators.     

Measuring Municipal Fiscal Condition: The Application of U.S.-Based Measures to the Context of Thailand

This research attempts to apply U.S.-based measures in order to examine municipal fiscal conditions in Thailand. Fourteen municipal governments located in the central and eastern regions of the country are explored, utilizing data from FY 2001 to 2006. The findings show that the selected measures of revenue-raising capacity and expenditure provide a sensible picture of Thai municipal fiscal conditions when compared to U.S. cities during past decades. Large, highly populous central cities as well as semi-rural, residential areas are fiscally weak. By contrast, suburban and industry-based cities are fiscally healthy. This study provides a foundation for the design of intergovernmental transfer systems that takes into account the local fiscal conditions and helps to extend the external validity of existing analytical tools.     

The impact of functional responsibility and state legal constraints on the “revenue-debt” packages of U.S. Central cities

State governments have the power to restrict the revenue and debt sources available to their municipalities. States also have the power to assign functional responsibilities to their municipalities - - some of which can be extremely burdensome financially (educatin; welfare; hospitals). This research examines the effect of these state constraints on: (1) the revenue-debt use patterns; and (2) the fiscal condition of 243 U.S. central cities (FY 1974, FY 1975, 1976).

The results show that the revenue/debt use patterns of cities vary signigficantly according to the restrictions imposed by the state on their taxing, borrowing, and functional responsibility powers. In addition, revenue/debt use patterns differ among ciites experiencing varying levels of distriess. Severely distressed cities are more dependent on external revenue sources (federal, state). They are less capable of generating revenue at the local level and are less flexible in their use of local revenue soruces, depending more hevily on the property tax and less heavily on nonproperty tax and nontax revenue sources than healthier cities. They are also found to be more reliant on full faith and credit (property tax-backed) long-term debt and on short-term debt than the more prosperous cities.

Cities in states imposing heavy restrictions on use of property tax and full faith and credit long-term debt sources but imposing few restrictions on municipa; nonproperty taxing powers are generally the healthiest fiscally. Such state policies have effectively enhanced municipal diversification of both traditional revenue sources and debt sources.

The major significance of this research is the demonstration that state governments have within their policy-making power the ability to affect the fiscal dependency level of their respective municipalities. An activist role is necessary on the part of state governments if they wish to increase their role in municipal fiscal affairs relative to that of the federal government.     

Does privatization make a difference? the impact of private contracting on municipal efficiency

This paper focuses on a public administration issue of continuing significance: the privatization of public services. Specifically, the study compares efficiency indicators across two groups of cities. One of the groups is comprised of cities that make extensive use of privatization while the other provides services through traditional municipal departments staffed with public employees. Most privatization studies focus on specific services and compare the relative efficiency of public and private production. Very little attention has been given to the impact privatization has on the larger functional areas of cities. This paper expands the conventional paradigm by attempting to determine whether the functional areas of contractual cities operate more efficiently than a comparable group of full- service cities.

Efficiency indicators were compared between two groups of cities using a variety of statistical techniques including analysis of the variance (ANOVA) and multiple regression. Six major functional areas were examined. In addition, relative productivity rankings were analyzed. No convincing support was found to indicate that the functional areas of contractual cities were more efficient than their full- service counterparts.     

Managing policy‐making in the local climate governance landscape: The role of network administrative organizations and member cities

Trans‐municipal networks (TMNs) have reshaped the landscape around local government action on global climate policy. Past research has focused on why cities join TMNs and the impact that membership has on local action. This study considers a potential reverse effect: namely, that cities' membership choices position them to influence TMNs' overall priorities. In considering this, we emphasize the role of network administrative organizations (NAOs) and posit that the multiple climate‐related networks, which share members and operate in overlapping geographic and issue spaces, are bound together as part of a meta‐network. We utilize social network analysis and data on membership in four climate‐related TMNs to examine the factors that shape how cities can influence meta‐network priorities. We find that cities with local vulnerabilities tend to be located in network positions that enable them to influence the meta‐network's overall priorities.     

The impact of governmental structure and expenditures on the quality of life in urban areas

Despite the obvious complementarity in their objectives, public policy and quality of life or social indicators research have been done in mutual isolation. The integration of these streams of research offers policy analysts an alternate method for measuring impacts. Using this approach, the current study focuses on two questions: 1) Are variations in municipal structure related to policy outputs, i.e., municipal expenditures? 2) Are variations in municipal structures and overall targeted municipal expenditures related to the general quality of life in municipalities and the quality of specific services?

The sample for this study includes the central cities of the sixty-five most populated SMSAs in the United States. Pearson Product Moment correlational and crosstabulational techniques were used to examine these relationships. The results indicate that council manager systems tend to spend less than mayor council systems, yet, in some ways, offer a better quality of life. Differences in size and regional location were investigated by factor analysis as possible influences in this regard.     

Mayor vs. manager revisited: an archival approach to comparing efficiency

The efficiency of municipal government is defined as a function of two factors: financial indicators such as per capita spending and taxation, and quality of life. If the financial indicators differ between cities without a corresponding change in quality of life, then the city with the lower value can be said to be better managed. An analysis of data from the County and City Data Book and the Places Rated Almanac found that large cities managed by city managers are more efficient than those managed by mayors. There was no significant difference in efficiency between mayors and managers of small cities; theoretically, mayors of small cities are unable to tax, spend, and borrow in relative anonymity. A cluster analysis of 114 large U.S. cities suggested that they may be classified into one of four categories: (1) Drunken Sailors; (2) High rollers; (3) Prudent Big Boys; and (4) Solvent Citizens.     

E-Governance Approaches at the Local Level: A Case Study in Best Practice

In the fall of 2009, the city of Prague set out to conduct a critical analysis of its overall performance by closely examining the performance of the city's districts. In conjunction with the E-Governance Institute at Rutgers University, Newark, New Jersey, and the Public Technology Institute in Washington D.C., a quantitative survey of all 22 administrative districts' e-governance and online presence was conducted. Guided by the survey results, qualitative case studies of the top five performing districts were carried out in January 2010. The underlying goal of this research project is to further improve e-governance in Prague and foster a greater understanding of successful digital government initiatives. The findings of the survey and the case studies are presented, and key findings in the case studies are highlighted.     

The Effect of Fiscal Decentralization on the Financial Condition of Municipal Government

This study examines the effect of fiscal decentralization between states and their local governments on the financial condition of municipal governments. There are strong theoretical arguments on both sides of the federalism debate about the benefits for and against decentralization. Most of the research in this area investigates economic and social welfare consequences of fiscal decentralization. There is limited research, however, on the effects of fiscal decentralization on the financial health of local governments. Using data from the nation’s 150 largest cities, this study finds that intrastate fiscal decentralization results in weaker financial condition for municipalities in those states.     

A Governance Reform Proposal: Improving Bus Transit Operations in Los Angeles

This article examines key governing issues related to Los Angeles transit operations. The study uses empirical data from the National Transit Database and personal interviews conducted with transit agency officials. Based on technical analysis and evaluation, the authors call for empowering council of governments and small cities to address interagency/intersector coordination and political equity issues, downsizing the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Headquarters and strengthening autonomy of the “Service Sectors” to better streamline transit operation issues, abolishing small municipal transit operators to refine bus fleet size distribution, and enhancing transit service privatization to yield a better cost efficiency.     

Cities working together to improve urban services in developing areas: The Toronto-São Paulo example

This paper examines the structure and administrative impact of a cooperative urban development accord existing between the cities of Toronto, Canada and São Paulo, Brazil. Using a case study approach, the extent to which urban service delivery in São Paulo has been facilitated by this agreement—focusing on the critical area of emergency care provision—is examined. The paper suggests that as a form of development assistance, the type of international municipal cooperation demonstrated in the study may have considerable potential, insofar at least as possibilities for real improvement to established service delivery mechanisms in developing areas are evident.     

Municipal Activism on Irregular Migrants: The Framing of Inclusive Approaches at the Local Level

Abstract

This article explores the ways in which city policymakers in Europe frame the reasons for provision of welfare services to migrants with irregular status. In the context of restrictive national legal and policy frameworks, the article explores a tendency toward municipal activism in extending access to services, providing a typology of six policy frames used by policy makers that identify the intended beneficiaries and stated policy aims. Drawing on interviews with local policymakers and documentary sources, the article contributes to our understanding of the reasons why some European cities provide services to this particular section of the migrant population.     

The Role of Citizen Participation and the Use of Social Media Platforms in the Participatory Budgeting Process

In the United States participatory budgeting (PB) is a relatively new and innovative approach to municipal budgeting that has implications for improving the role of citizen participation in the budgetary process. The research is based on personal interviews with local community leaders involved in the PB process in the 49th Ward of Chicago, Illinois; the 6th Ward of St. Louis, Missouri; and the City of Boston, Massachusetts. Highlights are provided of the specific experiences and perceptions of these community leaders with a particular emphasis on the use of social media platforms in engaging citizens in the PB process. This article concludes with recommendations for creating a PB infrastructure, for increasing citizen participation in the PB process, and for assessing and increasing the impact of PB in cities within the United States.     

Health care benefits in the public sector: An examination of availability,size, and managerial effects among north carolina municipalities

This study focuses on the extent to which health care benefits are used in North Carolina municipal governments. As such, it not only maps out the existence of these practices, but also the conditions and circumstances in which they occur. Health care practices (Basic dental and medical coverage, employee assistance programs, and child care provisions) are examined.

Since group health coverage is nearly universal (albeit the type and extent of coverage varies), it was not examined in this survey. With the exception of pre-paid dental insurance (41 percent) and unpaid maternity leave (31 percent), limited use is made of the various health care programs surveyed.

Population and workforce size effects are marginal.The presence of a city manager or town administrator, on the other hand, results in two or three fold the use as occurs in mayor-council cities.     

Innovation in Public Management: Is Public E-Procurement a Wave of the Future? A Theoretical and Exploratory Analysis

Project management has become an answer to many traditional organizational structuration and performance shortcomings, while gaining currency in business and public sector organizations. Public procurement systems have evolved into public electronic procurement systems with variations and distinctions in the age of globalization and digitalized complexities. This article examines the development of public e-procurement as an innovation in public management in the contexts of project management, public procurement management, and e-governance. It also links practice to theory—through a fourfold theoretical perspective—with contributions to the knowledge in public procurement, governance, and public administration.     

Audit Committees and Accountability in Local Government: A National Survey

Abstract

Financial scandals in city governments have received increased publicity in recent years. Audit committees have been suggested as a way review and improve standards and procedures for financial accountability. Audit committees assist local government managers in overseeing and monitoring the financial accounting and auditing process. They provide a communication link between elected officials, municipal managers, and independent auditors. This study relies on national survey data to examine the prevalence, role, and composition of audit committees in cities with populations over 65,000 and the conditions affecting their use and effectiveness. Interviews and a brief case study supplement survey data to provide richer detail regarding the performance of audit committees in ensuring improved accountability.