Search Results for: Municipal Expenditures

Today, American cities generally have more independent authority and fiscal autonomy than their Canadian counterparts. Home Rule status and other legal rights provide municipal governments with significant authority to govern their own affairs without constant state intervention. Yet, in the age of devolution, has federalism really worked to support the service delivery challenges of American cities?
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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.
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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?
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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.
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Presentation delivered by IMFG Director Enid Slack on August 22, 2012, at the International Property Tax Institute Conference in Sao Paolo.
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The Canadian water and wastewater deficit has been estimated to be in the billions of dollars. Drawing upon the political, economic, and technical history of the Southern Ontario water sector, IMFG Graduate Fellowship winner Lesley Herstein explores how short-term decision-making has often resulted in greater municipal expenditure over time on water assets.
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Although the metropolitan areas of Mumbai, Dehli, and Kolkata contribute a major chunk to the growth and income of India, only 52 per cent of urban households have tap water, only 741 out of 1000 urban dwellers have access to toilets, and 77 per cent of the urban households are covered by closed surface drainage. Faced with these major challenges, can Indian cities find the revenues they need to improve services?
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What new financial tools and collaborative approaches are currently being used among different levels of government, and among public, private, and non-profit sectors to expand and maintain parks and open space in North America?
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