PA Unit VIII Project Topic part 3

Local Government Budget Part II

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation

Evaluation of the goals and priorities of the local government goods and services

From the previous report, it is clear that the provincial government in California get small shares during the budget allocation (Navin & Navin, 2015). However, the general funds usually form the primary source of revenue for the development and provision of the goods and services to its citizens (Flewelling, Kenney, Elder, Pierce, Johnson, & Bal, 2014). Under those circumstances, when the General Fund budget is compared with the risk-based funds, there is a definite effect which is established for the three years in consideration. In that case, the General Fund budget for the local government in California was at twenty percent of the total budget within the county during the year of 2016 but in during 2015 it as around sixteen percent. Accordingly, during 2014 the percentage was approximately twenty-three.

The fund balance of the three years, however, exceeds the risk-based fund and this implies that this local government usually meets its goals, and hence it’s in position to prioritize offering the services to its citizens (Flewelling, Kenney, Elder, Pierce, Johnson, & Bal, 2014). On the other hand, the taxable sales of this local government increased during 2015 which indicates which confirms that the county is in position to provide goods and services.

Assessment of the internal and external challenges that the local government faces while providing goods and services

The primary problem which is confronted by the county is providing products and services continuously regarding possessing enough budget (Navin & Navin, 2015). Although the revenue of the county has been incrementing for the past three years, hence this growth of gaming revenue has not been consistent, and conversely, this implies the local government cannot concentrate much on the gaming revenues (Flewelling, Kenney, Elder, Pierce, Johnson, & Bal, 2014). As an illustration, the gaming revenues increased in the year 2013, but the dropped during the year 2015. Accordingly, it is indicated by statistics that the operating revenues per capital have been decreasing even if the population was on the increase (Flewelling, Kenney, Elder, Pierce, Johnson, & Bal, 2014). Therefore, this is a confirmation the local government cannot manage to provide its citizens with goods and services.

Evaluation of budget stabilization measures

Because of the challenges faced by this local government in managing the costs, measures have been put in place by the provincial government which aims to stabilize the budget (Navin & Navin, 2015). The county lays focus on the reduction of the employees to avoid unnecessary costs and ensure the recruitment of the employees within particular crucial sectors (Flewelling, Kenney, Elder, Pierce, Johnson, & Bal, 2014). For this reason, the county reduced its employees by over twenty percent during recession period in the year 2014 and laid focus on employing workers within the IT department. Furthermore, the county has set up financial policies which seek to ensure there are minimal cases of tax evasion and therefore residents pay taxes as per their ability.

Recommendations

It’s recommended that this local government should lay focus on the areas which generates revenues consistently (Navin & Navin, 2015). For instance, it is shown that the county gets a lot from the taxable sales as compared to gaming revenues (Flewelling, Kenney, Elder, Pierce, Johnson, & Bal, 2014). In that case, much focus should be laid towards sales revenue generation rather than gaming. Besides, the total number of visitors to the county is reported to have increased from 2009 to 2015. For this reason, the county has to charge manageable fees for the visitors to attract more and in that case, more revenues will be generated.

References

Navin, J. C., & Navin, L. J. (2015). An evaluation of state budget stabilization funds among Midwestern states. Growth and Change, 25(4), 445-466.

Flewelling, R. L., Kenney, E., Elder, J. P., Pierce, J., Johnson, M., & Bal, D. G. (2014). First-year impact of the 1989 California cigarette tax increase on cigarette consumption. American Journal of Public Health, 82(6), 867-869.