This paper analyzes economies of scale for two municipal services by considering how per-household municipal costs are affected by a municipality’s size. An econometric model is used to estimate costs associated with fire and police services using data for 445 municipalities in the Province of Ontario.
Find out more »

This paper examines the system of municipal finance in Hungary with special attention to the current changes in the regulation and finance of Hungarian municipalities and the change in central control over municipal finances in general after 2008, and suggests possible reforms.
Find out more »

Public parks and library systems across North America are experiencing fiscal distress. Short-term cost-cutting measures galvanize the community to oppose the reductions, but are there longer-term solutions to the funding problems?
Find out more »

During 2011 and 2012, the Institute on Municipal Finance and Governance (IMFG) hosted a speakers’ series called Moving our Region on funding regional transportation. This report distills the key lessons from the series.
Find out more »

Business property taxes in Ontario have fallen dramatically in the past decade, due to a series of reforms mandated by the provincial government. This paper discusses the likely impacts of the reforms on business location, wages, and land values, and the economic welfare of provincial residents.
Find out more »

Baumeister’s paper suggests policy changes for using the development charge as a planning tool. Burgess reviews the risks to Canadian municipal finance from extreme weather and analyzes the financial tools that cities can use to prepare for extreme weather events.
Find out more »

This paper reviews the evolution and current state of subnational taxation in five large emerging countries: Brazil, Russia, India, China, and Nigeria—BRIC plus one. As these case studies show, intergovernmental fiscal relations in any country are inevitably both path-dependent and context-sensitive.
Find out more »

The Nordic countries are small, unitary, and have largely homogeneous populations. Municipalities are the most important agents in the decentralized public sector. There are lessons to be learned from country to country in the field of local government financing, but comparisons need to be made with care.
Find out more »