Discover new arenas that shape the “warp and woof” of budgets and the policies and processes managers use to craft spending decisions.

Navigating the increasingly complex crosscurrents of local government finance has become an essential skill for today’s public administrator. The convergence of rising expectations from citizens and council members, anemic growth in revenue sources, and unfunded pensions now coming due has complicated the local manager’s task of preparing a budget that balances revenues with expenditures. More fundamentally, today’s managers must deliver services at a time when public confidence in government and its ability to perform have reached unparalleled lows.

This book examines the issues that a local manager confronts in developing a budget— both the choice of public services and projects to provide, and the choice of revenue sources used to pay for them. When formulating a budget, the manager must balance what is economically best, politically expedient, and administratively possible. Because the manager must also respond to citizens’ perceptions of an issue, whatever their accuracy, this book also examines budgets in those terms. In a more general sense, effective leadership requires that the public administrator shape as well as follow public opinion. The recommendations made throughout this book are designed to enhance citizens’ confidence in the responsiveness and competence of local government leaders.

Here's a snapshot of what you can expect in A Budgeting Guide for Local Government, Fourth Edition:

• An expansion on themes introduced in previous editions. As the public sector’s equivalent of a broker, the budget analyst brings together producers and consumers of local services, thereby transforming the budget process into a commodity exchange for those services. Although local governments have adopted more entrepreneurial methods of management, Bland and Overton provide the reasons why budgeting processes in the private sector cannot (and should not) be replicated in the public arena.
• A call on local managers to embrace truth-in-budgeting—creating an organizational culture that ensures the budget office is a dependable source of credible analyses. Good budgeting effectively links inputs (capital and labor) with outcomes. As the authors note, divining the linkage between inputs and their impact on the community is the key budget problem that managers must wrestle with.
• Practical guidance on how managers can effectively communicate budget information with their stakeholders and elevate the legitimacy of local government. Fiscal crises precipitated by natural or human actions impact budgets differently depending on their severity and duration.
• Specific strategies for responding to and mitigating the range of crises that can potentially strike a local government. The greatest challenge for balancing local budgets remains finding sufficient revenues to fund the services communities expect. Bland and Overton skillfully navigate the complex terrain of revenue policy and administration.
• Assessment of the impact of property tax exemptions on local budgets and the strategies used to compensate for the lost revenue. The authors provide an updated assessment of the general and excise sales taxes and the limited applicability of a local income tax. One of the bright spots for local revenues has been the steady shift toward charges on users of services.
• An introduction to a typology of strategies for structuring prices that give managers a clear understanding of the tradeoffs that must be made when designing a price structure.

About the Authors

Robert L. (Bob) Bland is professor of public administration at the University of North Texas, where he has been on the faculty since 1982 and teaches graduate courses in public finance, governmental accounting, and budgeting. He is the author of A Revenue Guide for Local Government (2nd ed., 2005) and A Budgeting Guide for Local Government (3rd ed., 2013), both published by ICMA, as well as of several articles on the municipal bond market, property taxation, and municipal budgeting. In 2007 he was the first recipient of the Terrell Blodgett Academician Award presented by the Texas City Management Association; he also received ICMA’s Stephen B. Sweeney Academic Award in October 2007. In 2012, Professor Bland was elected as a fellow in the National Academy of Public Administration. He received his BS from Pepperdine University, his MPA and MBA from the University of Tennessee, and his PhD from the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh. He can be reached at bbland@unt.edu.

Michael R. Overton is an assistant professor of public administration at the University of Idaho. His research explores the intersection of local government management and fiscal policy, specifically focusing on local government competition, economic development, and transportation financing issues. His research into these areas has been funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, SMART Transit, and the North Central Texas Council of Governments. In 2015, he received the University of North Texas’s Toulouse Dissertation Award in Social Science. In 2016 he was selected for the Emerging Scholars Award by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, and in 2017 he was selected as a Founders Fellow by the American Society of Public Administration.

Local Planning: Contemporary Principles and Practice is the all-new edition of the popular book, The Practice of Local Government Planning, which has been the valued resource for preparing for the AICP exam. This new edition helps the reader understand the complexities of planning at the local level, and prepare to make decisions in a challenging environment.

Gold Winner of the 2010 EXCEL Award from Association Media & Publishing

• A contemporary look at local planning for a new generation of planners
• Written for planning directors and nonplanners in both the private and public sectors
• Perfect for graduate level introductory planning classes
• Recommended for preparation for the AICP exam
• Contributors include a wide-ranging collection of voices—academics, practitioners, clients, and observers of planning

What's Inside:

• Demonstrates the breadth of planning challenges, the diversity of solutions, and lessons from the past
• Describes the historical, governmental, legal, and community context of planning
• Presents the challenges that planners will need to address in the decade ahead
• Provides useful, current examples of leading planning practices
• Helps planners and nonplanners apply well-reasoned strategic thinking in their planning challenges
• Unravels the complexity of planning at the local level to help readers make decisions in a difficult environment
• Helps students of the profession bridge the gap between theory and practice

Local Planning: Contemporary Principles and Practice focuses on emerging issues and future challenges, offering useful, current examples of leading planning practices. The organization and content of the book will help planners and nonplanners who manage the work of planners apply well-reasoned strategic thinking to their planning challenges, and will help students of the profession bridge theory and practice.

Related Resources

• Strategic Planning for Local Government, 2nd edition (e-Document)
• Strengthen Your Local Economy Through Economic Gardening (e-Document)

Management Policies in Local Government Finance, Sixth Edition offers the up-and-coming chief financial officer a thorough grounding in all the principles of financial management, as well as a review of the financial policies and practices used by local governments in the United States today. 

The sixth edition takes a broader, more comprehensive approach rooted firmly in an understanding that the principal challenges of contemporary financial management are:

• Executing, evaluating, and, when necessary, changing existing financial policies and procedures
• Anticipating and, where appropriate, ameliorating conflict over future decisions
• Presenting complex financial information to different stakeholders in intuitive, simple, and comprehensive ways
• Understand debt management and bond sales
• Deciding when and how to engage new stakeholders in the financial management process.

What’s new in Management Policies in Local Government Finance, Sixth Edition? 
Management Policies in Local Government Finance, Sixth Edition is organized around four main topic areas:

• Part One: “The Local Government Environment” provides a broad context for the work of finance managers.
• Part Two: “Management Tools” provides a survey of the types of structures that local governments use to organize their finance and budget functions. This part also discusses the influence that these structures have on the role of the chief financial officer (CFO).
• Part Three: “Revenue Sources” makes apparent that without a sufficient and stable flow of revenue, policies and budgets are merely wish lists.
• Part Four: “Financial Management” explores different components of financial management common to most organizations—public, private, or nonprofit.

Lessons for the Future 
Management Policies in Local Government Finance, Sixth Edition helps prepare the reader to understand the complex, but critical role of a local government CFO. The approach of this book rests on five tenets:

• A successful manager works to shape the decision-making agenda.
• Stability is one of financial management’s core professional values.
• Conflicts shape the CFO’s organizational environment.
• Timing is critical in managing conflict and political success.
• Context is essential to understanding and ultimately resolving a conflict.

EDITORS 
John R. Bartle, PhD, is the David Scott Diamond Alumni Professor of public affairs and the interim dean of the College of Public Affairs and Community Service at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. His major research and teaching areas are public budgeting, taxation and financial management, and sustainable development. He has published articles in Public Budgeting & Finance, Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, State and Local Government Review, Municipal Finance Journal, and Public Administration Review. He is the editor of the book, Evolving Theories of Public Budgeting (2001), and the coauthor of Sustainable Development for Public Administration (2009).

W. Bartley Hildreth, PhD, is professor of public management and policy in the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies at Georgia State University. Previously, he was the Regents Distinguished Professor of public finance at Wichita State University and director of its Kansas Public Finance Center with joint appointments in the public administration faculty of the Hugo Wall School of Urban and Public Affairs and the finance faculty of the W. Frank Barton School of Business. Dr. Hildreth has served as interim dean of the Barton School of Business and as dean of the Andrew Young School of Policy Studies.

Justin Marlowe, PhD, is associate professor and faculty director of the Executive Master of Public Administration program at the Evans School of Public Affairs at the University of Washington. He specializes in public financial management with an emphasis on public capital markets, financial accounting and reporting, public-private partnerships, local fiscal policy, and budget reform. Prior to entering academia, he worked in local government in Michigan. 

The latest edition in the classic ICMA series on fire and rescue services, Managing Fire and Emergency Services is a comprehensive update of the bestselling Managing Fire and Rescue Services (2002).

Managing Fire and Emergency Services is a modern practical reference and textbook illustrating the challenges that fire and emergency managers face and outlining leading practices to meet those challenges head on.

The previous edition (2002) addressed a profession on the brink of change following 9/11, yet this singular event was not the only harbinger of change. Hurricane Katrina and other natural disasters, the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, and the threat of further terrorist acts underscored the need to prepare for and manage large scale emergencies. The housing collapse and economic crisis have further exacerbated the situation: fire and emergency services have to meet increased expectations with less funding from all levels of government.

At its very core, Managing Fire and Emergency Services provides a road map for effective management of all organizational facets in the modern fire and emergency services environment.

Two new chapters deal with the reality of professional firefighters being involved in all realms of emergency management and the increased involvement of fire agencies in emergency medical services.

Key Features:

• Each chapter provides a level of understanding sufficient for action on the topic.
• Emergent issues are explored.
• 150 sidebars throughout the text illustrate leading practices from local case studies, expert analysis, and current research.
• Every chapter presents historical and current information with the purpose of directing the reader into effective and efficient actions.
• Chapters describe fully updated regulations, standards, and liability in key areas including human resource management.
• Is the most effective guide for professionals preparing for promotional exams.
• The content is designed to meet the National Fire Academy’s “Fire and Emergency Services Higher Education” (FESHE) model curriculum guidelines for its course, “Fire and Emergency Services Administration.”
• Every chapter emphasizes the role of innovation, collaboration, and skills development.
• Discussions address the latest developments in human resource management, candidate selection, firefighter safety, and grants management as well as information and communications technology.

Managing Fire and Emergency Services is organized into four sections, each completely updated and focused on operational achievement.

Part 1: Policy and Organizational Environment for Fire and Emergency Services
Part 2: Organizational Leadership
Part 3: Managing Fiscal Resources
Part 4: Critical Support Systems and Functions

Audience:

• Chief officers in fire and emergency services, including medical services 
• Local government managers and administrators responsible for fire departments
• Students in fire science, fire technology, and emergency services administration higher education courses
• Professionals preparing for promotional exams. This book is designed to meet the National Fire Academy’s Fire and Emergency Services Higher Education (FESHE) model curriculum guidelines for its course.

Editors:
Adam K. Thiel has spent 20 years in the fire and emergency services across four states and in numerous capacities. He currently chairs the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Technical Committee on Emergency Services Organization Risk Management, is the author of numerous publications, and teaches graduate level public administration courses.

Charles R. Jennings is an associate professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the City University of New York (CUNY). He is also the director of the Christian Regenhard Center for Emergency Response Studies at CUNY. He has more than 20 years experience as a firefighter and officer in New York and Maryland and is currently principal of Manitou, Inc., a public safety consulting firm.

Managing Fire and Emergency Services is your complete source for the latest fire and emergency management information and issues.

Related Resources

• Managing Fire and Emergency Services Self-Study Course

Training without the Travel!

The flexible format of the Self-Study course allows you to learn at your own pace. It’s the perfect tool for students or for in-service fire service personnel who are preparing for promotional exams or who want to brush up on their skills.

Other benefits of the course are:

• Review questions and exercises that help reinforce the main points and important details of each chapter
• Self-scored unit tests, a final exam, and a “retest” to help you evaluate what you’ve learned
• Answer keys with answers and page references for all exams to help you master any material that requires additional study
• Chapter essay questions for further thought.

Components: Self-Study Course, includes Study Guide and textbook. Study Guide and textbook are also available separately: Study Guide only (43637), textbook only (43636). You save $10 by ordering the study guide and textbook in this set. 

Related Resources

• Managing Fire and Emergency Services Study Guide