Fiscal Stress and Growth Management Effort in Wisconsin Cities, Villages, and Towns

Abstract

UCH HAS BEEN written about municipal reaction to fiscal stress, especially in the wake of Reagan-era cuts in federal contributions to local budgets. Most studies, however, have not considered to what extent fiscal stress might lead municipalities to engage in growth management efforts. 1 Rather, the focus is usually on the more immediate financial question of how municipalities close their budgetary gap, either through policies of budgetary retrenchment (e.g., service cuts) or revenue enhancement (e.g., user fees). Despite the fact that growth carries financial costs-although there remains disagreement about whether these enhance or further hinder a community's finances-studies of fiscal stress typically do not address the intended effects of a municipality's more general, long-term policies concerning growth. By looking at several measures of fiscal stress and their effect on growth management effort (i.e., establishment of institutional capacity and implementation of policies), we hope to shed light on the relationship between growth and fiscal well-being. We examine the relationship be- Research on Fiscal Stress and Type of Municipality Fiscal Stress and Municipal Growth ManagementStudies frequently fail to define fiscal stress, both conceptually and operationally. Wolman

Public Management in Rural Local Governments: An Assessment of Institutional Differences and Implications

“…and in assessments of government structure(Carr and Karuppusamy 2010;Nollenberger and Simmons 2016). Local governments in Wisconsin, in particular, have been the focus of several additional analyses(Diaz and Green 2001;Helpap 2017;Johnson and Ihrke 2004;Maher and Johnson 2008).…”

Modeling local growth control decisions in a multi-city case: Do spatial interactions and lobbying efforts matter?

“…Empirical studies on the non-political determinants of growth controls in North American cities have stressed the impact of prior population growth and population density (Bates and Santerre 1994;Evenson and Wheaton 2003;Glaeser and Ward 2009). In addition, it seems that the fiscal stress in indebted municipalities mitigates political growth management decisions (Diaz and Green 2001). In our robustness analysis, we therefore introduce three supplementary explanatory variables: population density, the rate of population growth between 1999 and 2006, and public debt per capita.…”

Assessing Public Expenditures in Small Towns

“…While existing studies address the basic management and fiscal practices of small communities to some degree, they generally do not distinguish among government structures (but see Diaz and Green 2001). A city or village designation, for example, indicates governance through an elected, representative body such as a village board or city council.…”

“…At the same time, certain smaller and more rural communities have dedicated significant public resources to cultural institutions, social services, sanitation, parks, recreational facilities, and beautification programs. In fact, many small communities now provide services that generally mirror those of larger municipalities in metropolitan areas (Diaz and Green 2001; Maher and Johnson 2008).…”