Question:

For your final paper, you are to select a local government budget to utilize for a comprehensive paper that will review that city''s budget in the context of the materials and concepts that have been discussed in this course. Specifically, your paper will want to address any and/or all of the following:

1. Revenue - Sources of income; amounts/percent derived from different sources of income; revenue in dollars and/or percent compared to previous years; revenue forecasts for future years; other issues concerning revenue.

2. Expenditures - Nature of expenditures; comparison of expenditures vs. revenue for current year/previous years/future years; allocation of revenue for operational vs. capital expenditures; other issues concerning expenditures.

3. Administration - Methods of collection of revenue; oversight of expenditures; structure of government; planning efforts (strategic, capital, etc); type of budget used; other issues concerning administration.

4. Context - Efforts concerning transparency, progressive or regressive taxation, budgeting as an economic development tool, revenue and expenditures versus other nearby local governments, accountability efforts.

The local government budget that you select must have the following characteristics:

Must be current (Fiscal Year 2016, Fiscal Year 2017 or Fiscal Year 2018)

Must be local - no state budgets permitted (Valdosta, GA)

Must have electronic access to the entire budget in MS Word or PDF format

Must contain enough information to address the points listed above

For your budget proposal, you will turn in a short (one page only, a paragraph or two is fine) MS Word document that will detail the local community budget you are proposing to use (preferably your own, or one nearby that you are familiar with), an electronic link to the budget so that I may review it before you proceed, and basic information about the government such as size, jurisdiction, services provided, etc.

There is no minimum or maximum length for this paper; however, it is unlikely that you can cover the topics listed in a paper that is less than 7 or 8 pages of material (title page and reference page not included). Do not be afraid to write! It is the only way I can know how well you have absorbed the material!

Remember: spelling, proper grammar and proper style are important! Refer to the syllabus for more information. Pay attention to citations and format.