摘要:

Noting that budgeting now represents the most important instrument of governance, transcending the traditional role of legislation, and also noting that recognition of this development stimulated a search for better methods, which is still underway, the author explores the possibility of using periodic, criteria‐based appraisals to encourage governments to adopt exemplary practices. Surfacing after World War II, dissatisfaction with budgetary practice led to continuing experimentation with alternative formats and procedures. Although the alternative approaches reflect different standards, they also share similarities, which can provide a foundation for the construction of an exemplary model of public budgeting, embracing critical dimensions of the budgetary process. Further noting the constructive impact of auditing standards on accounting practices and financial reports, the author suggests that the post‐audit model may be applicable to budgeting. Experimenting with this model is advanced as a likely next step in the search for better budgeting methodolog

ISSN:0275-1100    

DOI:10.1111/1540-5850.01081

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

ISSN:0275-1100    

DOI:10.1111/1540-5850.01082

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

ISSN:0275-1100    

DOI:10.1111/1540-5850.01083

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

The budget process is the primary means by which federal policymakers allocate resources. The failure of the budget to recognize and measure the full cost of federal programs encourages the Congress and president to skew resource allocation toward policies whose budgetary costs are underestimated. These “low‐cost” policies often increase costs to taxpayers without providing taxpayers with benefits. Recent examples of this phenomenon are found in the “supervisory goodwill” cases. This article reviews these cases, the budgetary weaknesses they identify, the influence these weaknesses had on legislators, and the unnecessary costs for taxpayers that result from the supervisory goodwill policy. Specifically, the federal budget did not recognize the cost that would result from encouraging financial institutions to assume the assets and liabilities of insolvent savings and loans. The budget's recognition of costs failed a second time by not recording expenditures when the government abrogated its contracts with acquirers. Both actions raised costs to taxpayers unnecessarily. In addition to analyzing budgetary weaknesses and their potential costs, this article also reviews two proposed budgetary reforms that could address the budgetary failures highlighted by the supervisory goodw

ISSN:0275-1100    

DOI:10.1111/1540-5850.01084

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Kenya's agriculture ministries are reforming their accounting systems and the reform includes computerization. This article examines the impact of computers on accounts and the lessons that can be drawn from Kenya about building computerized accounting systems.Four propositions emerge about the impact of computers on the accounting systems. First and surprisingly, the initial impact of computers is indirect. Their primary impact is to strengthen the manual accounts which the ministries continue to rely upon. Second, computers promote effectiveness reforms by changing procedures, rather than efficiency reforms by accelerating the throughput of data with existing procedures. Third, computers do not initially promote document processing but do improve data processing. Fourth, computers do promote rudimentary analysis.One conclusion from the Kenya case is that modular implementation of computerized accounting is helpful. Implementing modules rather than an integrated system means that accounting reforms can begin without waiting for lengthy procedural reforms. Modular implementation also facilitates agency involvement in the design of the system.

ISSN:0275-1100    

DOI:10.1111/1540-5850.01085

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

President Clinton's veto of the 1995 reconciliation bill, the largest and most ambitious such legislation ever passed by Congress, was the first time a reconciliation bill was ever rejected by a president. It was also the first reconciliation bill in two decades to include a tax reduction rather than a tax increase. The fate of this bill, and its scope and contents, suggest the need to assess the evolution of reconciliation within the congressional budget process. In the early 1980s, Congress altered budget reconciliation procedures, putting in place a powerful new capability for deficit reduction. Reconciliation became the primary means within the budget process of restraining entitlement spending and increasing taxes as part of congressional efforts to reduce the deficit. Gramm‐Rudman‐Hollings magnified certain problems Congress encountered in using reconciliation to control entitlements, producing increased pressure to cut discretionary spending. While the Budget Enforcement Act of 1990 included new authority to use reconciliation to restrain entitlements, congressional spending priorities combined with the Peace Dividend to maintain the relative sanctuary entitlement programs have enjoyed. The limits of reconciliation as a deficit reduction tool, both in terms of increasing revenues and curtailing entitlements, are detailed. The inherent procedural advantages accorded to entitlements are contrasted with the treatment of discretionary programs, explaining in part the widening gulf between these two categories of spending. Congress has attempted, without success, to find alternatives to reconciliation. The failure of the seven‐year, deficit‐eliminating reconciliation bill of 1995 may indicate that certain Limits on the use of reconciliation may have been

ISSN:0275-1100    

DOI:10.1111/1540-5850.01086

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

This article argues that the adverse impact of Medicaid on state budgets alleged in various public debates has been overstated, in some measure because of the inaccurate and misleading manner in which Medicaid expenditures are appropriated in state budgeting systems. Data on Medicaid and mental health spending in the state of New York is used for analysis. The first section provides a Medicaid spending and budgeting background. The second section discusses Medicaid and mental health in New York. The third section describes actual budgeted spending for mental health in New York, and the final section provides a discussion and concluding comments.

ISSN:0275-1100    

DOI:10.1111/1540-5850.01087

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Growing alienation between citizens and government represents an important challenge to democracy. Resistance to taxation is one of the manifestations of this alienation. The issue is further complicated by citizen demands that exceed their willingness to pay taxes, referred to here as tax‐demand discontinuity. This article uses a survey of over 700 citizens designed to provide an information foundation for comprehensive park and recreation planning to test for and profile tax‐demand discontinuity. Using combined scores on summated measures of willingness to pay taxes and demand for public investment, citizens are typologically classified into nine groups that are then consolidated under three classifications of tax‐demand discontinuity. Citizen‐assignments include traditionalists, or those with continuity or balance between willingness to pay taxes and demand; philanthropists, those who are willing to pay taxes in excess of demand; and free‐riders, citizens with demands that exceed willingness to pay taxes. Differences in assessments of local government performance are examined in relationship to tax‐demand discontinuity classifications indicating that productivity alone will not resolve issues of tax‐demand discontinuity. The results indicate differences in citizen subpopulations in tax‐deman

ISSN:0275-1100    

DOI:10.1111/1540-5850.01088

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY

摘要:

Lease purchases, if used effectively, can be a viable means for governments to finance real property. This article describes the state of Texas' experiences with lease purchases of real property and the guidelines that the state has developed in attempts to improve the management of lease purchases. The article also discusses lessons learned in Texas that may be applicable to other governments and presents a framework for the effective management of lease purchases.

ISSN:0275-1100    

DOI:10.1111/1540-5850.01089

出版商:Blackwell Publishing Ltd    

年代:1996

数据来源: WILEY