IMFG has released a new book, called Is Your City Healthy? Measuring Urban Fiscal Health, edited by Richard M. Bird and Enid Slack.
In an era when all large cities are struggling to maintain balanced budgets and pay for increased services and infrastructure, Is Your City Healthy? is a timely publication that explores the elements of fiscal health, how we measure it, and why it is important. Eight experts in the field look at a range of fiscal health measures in Canada, the United States, and some OECD countries and ask if they are always or necessarily a signal of municipal health. The book also examines the gap between fiscal indicators and their interpretation, arguing that benchmarking and diagnosis are very different things. The book is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in the financial health of cities.
Is Your City Healthy? is published in association with the Institute of Public Administration of Canada (IPAC). Copies can be purchased at the University of Toronto bookstore, located at 214 College Street in Toronto, or online through IPAC at: www.ipac.ca/knowledge/Publications.
About the Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance (IMFG)
The IMFG is a research hub and think tank that focuses on the fiscal and governance challenges facing large cities and city-regions. It is located within the University of Toronto’s Munk School of Global Affairs. IMFG publications include papers by Canadian and international scholars and graduate students, and are archived on IMFG’s website here.
About The Institute of Public Administration of Canada (IPAC)
IPAC is a membership-based association of public servants, academics, and others interested in public administration. It leads public administration research in Canada and exports Canadian public sector expertise around the world. For more information, go to www.ipac.ca.