The Fiscal Consequences of Changing Federal and State Revenue Policies: The Case of Small Oregon Cities

This article examines the fiscal consequences for twelve, small Oregon cities of recent changes in federal and state intergovernmental revenue policies. Many small local governments have experienced double revenue reverses in recent years—reductions in own-source revenues because of economic decline...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Publius 1987-10, Vol.17 (4), p.189-205
Main Author: Downes, Bryan T.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Change
Cities
City councils
FEDERAL AID
Federal government
Government
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
Monetary policy
Municipal governments
OREGON
PROPERTY TAX
Property taxes
Public administration
Revenue
State government (Oregon)
Total revenue
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Summary:This article examines the fiscal consequences for twelve, small Oregon cities of recent changes in federal and state intergovernmental revenue policies. Many small local governments have experienced double revenue reverses in recent years—reductions in own-source revenues because of economic decline as well as decreases in intergovernmental revenues, especially federal aid. The twelve small cities are compared with all 241 cities in Oregon and the 136 Oregon cities in the 1,000 to 49,999 population range. Using aggregate and interview data, a major finding is that although stabilization and/or decline in federal-state revenue sharing and entitlement program funds have accentuated difficult local revenue situations, economic decline has been the more important contributor to the fiscal stress of the twelve small municipalities. Most of the twelve cities had limited fiscal capacity—as indicated by low assessed property valuations—making it difficult to produce sufficient revenue to meet basic public service needs. These cities were also unable to get citizen approval of increases in property taxes.
ISSN:0048-5950
1747-7107
1747-7107
DOI:10.1093/oxfordjournals.pubjof.a037669