Public Financial Management and Budgeting

Public managers are expected to hold a diverse finance-related skill set, including budget preparation, interpretation of audited financial statements, developing cost estimates and assessing an institution's overall economic condition. Managers are also expected to provide objective advice and recommendations to disparate stakeholders.Developing a comprehensive financial assessment joins together many of these skills into a single element. As an element of the student's career portfolio, the assessment may serve ends beyond intellectual development.

Providence, R.I., rumored to be filing for bankruptcy for more than a year, experienced consecutive deficits through fiscal 2012, has a high-debt burden and significant unfunded pension liabilities, as well as high unemployment and low income levels.

Your assessment must contain all the following sections and elements:

City Background.Provide a basic overview of the city. Discuss the city's important demographics (e.g., population, number of households, per-capita income, education levels, etc.) and how they've evolved. Identify the city's top employers and their industries. Provide details about your city's governing structure, budget process, and any economic development activities.

Financial Overview.Identify the city's sources of revenue and expenses. Where do most revenues come from - i.e., taxes? Fees? Intergovernmental grants? - and what budget areas does the city allocate those funds toward? What is the city's debt situation? Are their employee benefit programs well-funded or not? For historical context, you must also examine how these numbers have changed over the past 5 - 10 years.

Future Issues of Significance. Conclude your paper by discussing any issues of financial significance to the city over the next 1 - 5 years. These may be related to state legislation, federal legislation, changing demographics or currently-pending activities.

To conduct your research, consult all the following sources: your city's website, budget, Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR) and US Census Data.

Papers must use a 12-point font in black ink with page margins of one inch on all sides. Papers should be 10 single-spaced pages(including tables and graphs). But, the report that uses excessively-sized non-text elements to meet the page requirement will be penalized. Use footnotes for references.

Responses are graded for completeness, depth of analysis, accuracy, and correct grammar.