A detailed assessment of employment trends in the public sector from 1979 to 2001 is provided. Particular attention is paid to the relative level of public sector employment is Wisconsin . The analysis also examines the relationship between the size of state and local government and overall...

This study focuses on the impacts state shared revenues has on local government finances. Specifically we examine what is referred to in the academic literature as the "flypaper effect." Using a simple model of local fiscal behavior Bradford and Oates (1971a, 1971b) predict that aids to local...

Wisconsin county government officials are facing an almost perfect "fiscal storm." Since 1993, county governments have been operating under property tax rate restrictions and over the past few years levy limits as well--a primary source of locally generated revenues. The structural deficits...

For the fourth time since 1997, a web-based survey of fiscal health was administered to administrative officials of Wisconsin cities and villages during the summer of 2010. A total of 195 municipalities responded to the survey. Of those administrative officials responding, 53 percent reported...

We offer a practical test of local government effectiveness in the provision of public services. Building on the work of Brueckner (1979, 1982, 1983) and Henderson (1990, 1995) we offer a property value maximization model where levels of local public services are capitalized into property...