Exclusive Content: Budget & Finance

A line drawing of a hand holding coins and bills

Government Debt Gone Wild

Posted on April 19, 2022

In 2015 while opening mail, I came across a letter from a law firm. Out of curiosity, I opened this letter first. It was a debt collection agency hired on behalf of the City of Chicago to collect a parking ticket that I supposedly hadn’t paid ten years prior. The letter stated that I had...

Accepting Applications from Students and Local Governments: Summer 2022 PAFR Fellowship Program

Posted on April 18, 2022

ELGL and the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) created the PAFR Fellowship Program to connect graduate students with local governments looking to create a Popular Annual Financial Report (PAFR) for submission to the GFOA award program. This program connects graduate students with local governments that wish to develop a PAFR for submission to the GFOA...

Accepting Applications from Students and Local Governments: Winter 2022 PAFR Fellowship Program

Posted on November 22, 2021

Accepting Applications: Summer 2021 PAFR Fellowship Program

Posted on May 7, 2021

ELGL and the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) created the PAFR Fellowship Program to connect graduate students with local governments looking to create a Popular Annual Financial Report (PAFR) for submission to the GFOA award program. COVID-19 makes it difficult for graduate students to find meaningful professional work experiences (internships)—either due to hiring freezes or...

Findings from the New Normal Survey: COVID’s Lasting Legacy on Local Government

Posted on May 4, 2021

599 local government officials and staff from across the country recently took “The New Normal Survey: COVID's Lasting Legacy on Local Government,” which was conducted in partnership with The Atlas, ELGL, CivicPulse, CivicPlus and RouteFifty. It is a follow-up to a survey from June 2020. Last year, we asked local government leaders how public services...

Does Consolidating Local Governments Work?

Local Government Fragmentation

Posted on February 22, 2021

This research paper was shared with ELGL by our friends at the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA). Local governments spent about $1.9 trillion in 2017, collectively. This was more than all fifty states together when we remove money passed through to local governments. While this might seem surprising, it might be less surprising when you...

Shareholder Litigation In The Age of Financial and Social Responsibility

Posted on January 12, 2021

Joshua H. Grabar, Esq. is an ELGL member based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who specializes in local government legal issues as they pertain to antitrust and securities law. You can find him on his firm’s website at www.grabarlaw.com; by email at jgrabar@grabarlaw.com; or on LinkedIn or Twitter. Securities class action plaintiffs amassed $2 billion in settlements...

Time for Change: A Practical Approach to Rethinking Police Budgeting

Posted on January 6, 2021

This research paper was shared with ELGL by our friends at the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA). The need for a new look at police and public safety has wide popular support. However, the path forward is not clear. Local governments need a way to reach good decisions about police funding—the traditional local government budgeting...

Accepting Applications: Winter 2021 PAFR Fellowship Program

Posted on January 4, 2021

ELGL and the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) created the PAFR Fellowship Program to connect graduate students with local governments looking to create a Popular Annual Financial Report (PAFR) for submission to the GFOA award program. COVID-19 makes it difficult for graduate students to find meaningful professional work experiences (internships) - either due to hiring...

Cover of GFOA report. Reads Financial Policies for imposed fees, fines, and asset forfeitures.

Imposed Fee and Fine Use by Local Governments

Posted on November 9, 2020

This research paper was shared with ELGL by our friends at the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA). A local government’s revenue system needs to treat people fairly to maintain the public’s trust. GFOA’s Code of Ethics requires that finance officers support equitable provision of services and call out unfair discrimination. But some local governments use and rely on...

Meet the PAFR Fellows! Part 2

Posted on August 19, 2020

ELGL and the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) created the PAFR Fellowship Program to connect graduate students with local governments looking to create a Popular Annual Financial Report (PAFR) for submission to the GFOA award program. The fellows have all been finalized and ELGL and GFOA are excited to announce everyone over the next few...

New! PAFR Fellowship Program

Posted on June 11, 2020

ELGL and the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) have to create the PAFR Fellowship Program to connect graduate students with local governments looking to create a Popular Annual Financial Report (PAFR) for submission to the GFOA award program. COVID-19 has made it difficult for graduate students to find meaningful summer professional work experiences (internships) -...

Municipal Revenue and Social Justice Generator for Local Govs

Posted on May 15, 2020

Joshua H. Grabar, Esq. is an ELGL member based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who specializes in local government legal issues as they pertain to antitrust and securities law. You can find him on his firm’s website at www.grabarlaw.com; by email at jgrabar@grabarlaw.com; or on LinkedIn or Twitter. Municipal Revenue and Social Justice Generator: Class Action Litigation...

Why Leslie Knope Should Care About Fiscal Sustainability

Posted on February 3, 2020

As fans of “Parks and Recreation,” most ELGL folks know that fiscal challenges are a recurring issue for Pawnee, Indiana, the fictional town Leslie Knope loves. What they may not know is that a lot of the real cities and other local governments they work for and care about may not be in much better...

Webinar Recording: Money Talks Grant Administration with Metro Nashville

Posted on December 12, 2019

Missed our Money Talks webinar on Administering Federal & State Grants and Loans with Metro Nashville from December 11, 2019? You can view the full recording of the Money Talks Webinar on Grant Administration with Metro Nashville here. You can download the slide presentation here. Whew. You Got the Money! Now the Real Work Begins:...