Browse Our Research 

This video features Josh Lerner, Director of the Participatory Budgeting Project, in conversation with Shelley Carroll, Alex Mazer, and Peter MacLeod. Participatory budgeting gives the public the right to propose, deliberate, and vote on a part of the city budget. Does participatory budgeting actually improve democracy, transparency, and accountability, or is it simply another consultation tool in disguise?
Find out more »

This paper evaluates the financial tools available to fund stormwater infrastructure (property taxes, development charges or cash-in-lieu payments, grants, borrowing, and user charges), and proposes user charges as the most appropriate.
Find out more »

Municipal bonds are one way to raise money for long-term infrastructure investments. In several U.S states, bond approvals are put to a public referendum. This presentation looks at one such case in San Antonio, Texas.
Find out more »

In this video, former Toronto City Manager Joe Pennachetti was joined in conversation with Matt Galloway, host of CBC Radio 99.1 FM’s Metro Morning. With 35 years of municipal financial management experience, Mr. Pennachetti reflected on his career in the public service and share his thoughts on the challenges of policymaking for cities.
Find out more »

This presentation looks at how demographic and industrial shifts in recent decades have impacted equity in municipal service delivery across the Metro Detroit region. Could fiscal equalization narrow the gap between Detroit and its outer suburbs? More broadly, can regional governance help restart the Motown engine?
Find out more »

Enid Slack presents to the Municipal Finance Authority of British Columbia on March 31, 2016.
Find out more »

This report reviews tax increment financing (TIF) and land value capture (LVC), two alternative sources of revenue to support new infrastructure and development for which municipal funds are not readily available. It simulates a 30-year TIF implementation along the Sheppard East corridor in Toronto.
Find out more »

This paper defines the terms Big Data, Open Data, Open Government, and Smart Cities and uses two case studies – London (U.K.) and Toronto – to examine questions about using data to drive economic growth, improve the accountability of government to citizens, and offer more digitally enabled services.
Find out more »