The American Review of Public Administration

 

Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Click here for more information

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Kloha, P.
Right arrow Articles by Kleine, R.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati  
What's this?
The American Review of Public Administration, Vol. 35, No. 3, 236-255 (2005)
DOI: 10.1177/0275074005277435

Someone to Watch Over me

State Monitoring of Local Fiscal Conditions

Philip Kloha

Michigan State University

Carol S. Weissert

Florida State University

Robert Kleine

Although the fiscal condition of local governments has been a recent concern for some states, there is considerable ambiguity about what constitutes fiscal difficulties and how to recognize them before they become fiscal emergencies. This article outlines the results of a 50-state survey to identify and classify indicators states use to assess or monitor fiscal conditions in their local governments. The survey revealed that most states did not have such indicators in place, and those that do rarely agree on which indicators to construct. Only 15 states have in place indicators to assess or monitor local financial conditions, and many of these states use indicators that do not identify local problems before they become major. Most indicators used by states are based on operating position variables such as fund balances and are predicated on the assumption that local financial emergencies are management problems rather than the result of longer term trends.

Key Words: fiscal indicators • financial emergencies • state oversight


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?