MUNICIPAL FINANCE CHALLENGES

AND POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS

In Broward County, Fla., voters approved a new property tax and a special district to provide services for disadvantaged children.

The new district was the Broward County Children’s Services Council.

Shayne Kavanagh, senior manager of research for the 26,000-plus member Government Finance Officers Association, said local government must challenge itself to find ways of increasing economic activity without increasing operational costs.

He said better coordination of land-use policy to economic development could help.

Development that results in urban sprawl often costs as much or more than the new taxes generated by the development itself.

 

MUNICIPAL FINANCE CHALLENGES

AND POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS

Shayne Kavanagh, senior manager of research for the 26,000-plus member Government Finance Officers Association, authored “New Taxes That Work: How Local Governments and Raise Revenue and “Rethinking Revenue”

He noted that even in an era of strong anti-tax sentiment, communities successfully gained voter approval when they associated the tax with a concrete purpose that citizens value.

“For Plant City, Fla., 50 percent of its 160 miles of streets were in poor condition.

Staff estimated that it would take up to 60 years to resurface or reconstruct all roads in the city, based on available resources at the time.

Street quality served as the foundation for a new tax,” Kavanagh reported.

MUNICIPAL FINANCE CHALLENGES

AND POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS

Karen Tamley, president and CEO of Access Living, a Chicago-based disability rights and service organization, urged public officials to find a way of addressing a projected $771 million Chicagoland transit funding shortfall that would start in early 2026.

Projected transit service cuts of up to 40 percent, mass layoffs and fare increases “would have a devastating impact on our communities, including people with disabilities who live here.”

“For disabled residents, especially those who can’t drive or afford their own wheelchair-accessible vehicle, public transit is the foundation of daily life — a way to get to work, attend school, access medical care, visit family and be part of the community,” Tamley’s op-ed stated.

 

HAPPY NEW (BLOGGING) YEAR

CHARGING INTO 2026 WITH MORE THAN 1.7 MILLION READERS

My blog started humbly nearly 15 years ago.

I wanted to post about saving William Jennngs Bryan Park – the historic green space that I live on in Miami’s Shenandoah neighborhood – from being paved 100% with concrete for an out of scale regional tennis center.

I went on to post about my global travels.

Then shared my lifetime work on Universal Design.

Stories about urban policy, sustainability, mobility, town planning, architecture and transportation followed.

From being lucky to get 100 readers per week, I have grown to receiving more than 1.7 million unique visitors over the life of this blog.

I have posted nearly 5,000 stories – four out of five illustrated with my own fine art photography.

Here’s to passing the two million readers mark sometime in early 2026.

MUNICIPAL FINANCE CHALLENGES

AND POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS

Karen Tamley, president and CEO of Access Living, a Chicago-based disability rights and service organization, points out that transit cuts have a disproportionately negative impact on people with disabilities.

“Public transportation for people with disabilities is the difference between a life of isolation and full independence. 

Right now, for those who live in the Chicago region, independence is on the line,” Tamley wrote in an August Chicago Tribune opinion piece.

MUNICIPAL FINANCE CHALLENGES

AND POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS

“When states preempt what cities can do, it denies the fact that cities are individual and not uniform.

Cities need to be nimble and not be restricted from creating the kind of revenues they need to continue delivering services,” said Michael Pagano, dean emeritus, University of Illinois at Chicago College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs and former Brookings Metro non-resident fellow.

There is no such thing as a magic bullet that works in every city.

Having worked in the core of Chicago for two decades, Pagano also noted that commercial occupancy hovers around 70 percent downtown.

That has a huge negative impact on transit ridership and funding.

MUNICIPAL FINANCE CHALLENGES

AND POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS

Michael Pagano, dean emeritus, University of Illinois at Chicago College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs and former Brookings Metro non-resident fellow, said the bigger impact is what Covid did with remote work and hybrid work. 

He said the lack of downtown workers, which also impacts downtown retail and restaurants, has impacted the commercial tax base.

Some cities have rebounded and repurposed, while others are still struggling.

“There is not any such thing as an average city, so there is no such thing as a magic bullet that works in every city,” he said.

“Another issue is that states ban city access to certain resources — a downtown may come roaring back, but if the city doesn’t have authority to levy taxes on that growth, it is not the boost it could be.