As part of the 2024 revisions to the Uniform Guidance, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) expanded the list of targeted businesses for socioeconomic contracting consideration to include veteran-owned businesses. The revised language of 2 C.F.R.

As part of the 2024 revisions to the Uniform Guidance, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) expanded the list of targeted businesses for socioeconomic contracting consideration to include veteran-owned businesses. The revised language of 2 C.F.R. 200.321 encourages local governments that are … Read more

Failure to perform a cost or price analysis is one of FEMA’s “Top 10” procurement mistakes made by recipients and subrecipients. Due to Hurricane Helene, many local governments in Western North Carolina are already or will be entering into contracts that require a cost or price analysis. This blog post explains how to perform a cost or price analysis, with a particular focus on FEMA-eligible contracts. What is a cost or price analysis?

Failure to perform a cost or price analysis is one of FEMA’s “Top 10” procurement mistakes made by recipients and subrecipients. Due to Hurricane Helene, many local governments in Western North Carolina are already or will be entering into contracts that require … Read more

Yup, you guessed it, today’s blog post is on revenue forecasting!  My current blog series is about some of the non-legal finance issues that are out there and revenue forecasting, while required by law, is a really important one!  There are many people that are involved with revenue forecasting in local governments. While many outside of government may just assume that there is some accountant or budget wonk sitting in a back room who is somehow magically able (or has some very scientific formula) to predict how much money is going to be coming in next year, we know better.

Consulting and updating your revenue manual is the first step of the administrative process for revenue forecasting.  At least, that is what I say when I teach revenue forecasting.  Of course, when I then turn to the course participants and ask how many of them have revenue manuals in their jurisdiction only one or two raise their hands.  In fact, there are some years when no one raises their hand.

Taxes are a necessary aspect of any modern society, as they provide the government with the resources needed to provide public goods and services such as infrastructure, healthcare, education, and security. However, not all taxes are created equal, and policymakers must take into account various criteria when designing and implementing tax policies. In this blog post, we will discuss five tax criteria: economic efficiency, equity, adequacy, feasibility, and transparency.

A county ambulance crew member calls Fiona, the county finance officer, at 9pm on Sunday night. The crew just responded to their third call of the night and he needs to refuel the ambulance. Fiona grabs a copy of the county’s budget ordinance and a printout of current expenditures and encumbrances and rushes out the door to meet the ambulance crew at a gas station several miles from her home. When Fiona arrives the crew member gives her an estimate of the amount of gas needed. Fiona notes the current per-gallon price and calculates the total cost to be $72.65. She quickly glances at the budget ordinance. It allocates $100,000 for ambulance fuel for the fiscal year. She also checks to see that there is $43,000 remaining in that appropriation. She gives the crew member the ok and he fills up the tank. Fiona uses a county-issued fuel card to pay the $72.65 owed. When the receipt prints at the pump, Fiona stamps it with the following statement, “This instrument has been preaudited in the manner required by the Local Government Budget and Fiscal Control Act.” Fiona then signs her name to the receipt and hands it back to the crew member. (The crew member will later submit the receipt, through his supervisor, to the county’s finance department to reconcile with the monthly fuel card bill.)