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    The Perfect Fiscal Storm
    Rick Kermer
    • Aug 9, 2020
    • 4 min

    The Perfect Fiscal Storm

    My hometown is asking voters to approve a sales tax increase of 1.25% in November 2020. I know they need the money, but it is certainly a...
    20 views0 comments
    Rick Kermer
    • Jul 12, 2015
    • 2 min

    The Legacy of Fads

    I started in local government when Planning, Programming, Budgeting (PPB) was introduced as a way to more effectively and efficiently use...
    1 view0 comments
    Rick Kermer
    • Apr 12, 2015
    • 2 min

    Budgetary Pitfalls

    As most of you are neck deep in your budget, we thought we would share some budgetary pitfalls that we have experienced over the years....
    0 views0 comments
    Eric Johnson
    • Mar 17, 2015
    • 2 min

    Use EIFDs to Improve your Infrastructure

    We have written much in the past about the need to identify and cost out your infrastructure, partly to insure that the adequate...
    1 view0 comments
    Scott Thorpe
    • Aug 18, 2014
    • 4 min

    Yet Another Looming Financial Disaster

    Last November I wrote the above titled topic about municipal asset replacement programs for the RCS monthly newsletter, and here is an...
    0 views0 comments
    Scott Thorpe
    • Apr 22, 2014
    • 3 min

    No Reductions in Service

    “There will not be any corresponding reduction in service.” I have a close friend that I met during our University Public Administration...
    1 view0 comments
    Rick Kermer
    • Jun 17, 2013
    • 3 min

    Contracting: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

    Given the renewed interest in contracting as a way to save money, it seems like a good time to review the experience of agencies that...
    0 views0 comments
    Scott Thorpe
    • May 21, 2013
    • 4 min

    Surprises are Bad

    Does your agency have a Revenue Book and someone assigned as Revenue Czar? The Revenue Czar is charged with knowing everything there is...
    0 views0 comments
    Eric Johnson
    • Mar 19, 2013
    • 3 min

    Don’t forget about your Infrastructure

    A recent report by the California Statewide Needs Assessment Project, a coalition of local government groups, identified more than $82...
    0 views0 comments
    Rick Kermer
    • May 17, 2012
    • 2 min

    What can Police Officers teach Firefighters?

    In October of 2009, I wrote an article about what Firefighters could teach Police Officers. Thanks to an article in the Los Angeles Times...
    0 views0 comments
    Eric Johnson
    • Apr 17, 2012
    • 3 min

    Budgeting for Outcomes

    There has been much talk lately in budgeting circles about Budgeting for Outcomes. In short, this means making an effort to determine an...
    0 views0 comments
    Scott Thorpe
    • Mar 19, 2012
    • 4 min

    Thinking out of the Budget Box

    I’m at heart a “budget” guy. In the four cities I worked in as an employee (full disclosure, it was over 25 years ago) I was always...
    1 view0 comments
    Eric Johnson
    • Jan 18, 2012
    • 2 min

    The more things change the more they stay the same

    We are living in a time of change. Redevelopment Agencies in their current form have disappeared. No one knows what the State budget will...
    0 views0 comments
    Scott Thorpe
    • Dec 6, 2011
    • 4 min

    We’re All In This Together

    Let’s jump into the “wayback machine” and travel back to 1975 when I was a 23 year old Administrative Analyst (i.e. “punk”) with a fresh...
    0 views0 comments
    Rick Kermer
    • Oct 30, 2011
    • 2 min

    Systemic Problems with Labor Negotiations

    Many years ago, I audited a city in the San Gabriel Valley area of greater Los Angeles that was especially well-managed. One of the...
    0 views0 comments
    Eric Johnson
    • Sep 22, 2011
    • 2 min

    It’s time to think about updating your Cost Allocation Plan

    If you use a Cost Allocation Plan (CAP) to recover General Fund costs from your Enterprise Funds, then it’s time to start thinking about...
    1 view0 comments
    Scott Thorpe
    • Jul 26, 2011
    • 3 min

    The Costa Mesa Experiment

    As you probably know, the City of Costa Mesa has pink-slipped nearly half of its employees. Considering that as of yet none of those...
    0 views0 comments
    Rick Kermer
    • Jun 21, 2011
    • 2 min

    Rethinking Animal Control

    When our company started doing cost of services studies in the early 1980’s, it was routinely suggested that 50% of animal control costs...
    0 views0 comments
    Eric Johnson
    • May 18, 2011
    • 3 min

    To Outsource or not to Outsource

    In these days of budget angst and woe you may be getting pressure from your elected officials or community to outsource services that are...
    0 views0 comments
    Rick Kermer
    • Mar 23, 2011
    • 2 min

    Keeping Budget Problems in Perspective

    I’m writing this on March 18, 2011, or seven days after the magnitude 9.0 earthquake rocked Japan followed by a four meter tsunami that...
    0 views0 comments
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