Urban Policy in a Changing Federal System Proceedings of a Symposium (1985) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
1. Trends and Developments in Federalism: The Meaning for Urban Policy
1. Trends and Developments in Federalism: The Meaning for Urban Policy
Pages 17-43
The Chapter Skim interface presents what we've algorithmically identified as the most significant single chunk of text within every page in the chapter.
Select key terms on the right to highlight them within pages of the chapter.
From page 17... ...
In positive terms, it supported: greater decentralization within the federal departments to their field units; a Revolution of more power and greater discretion to recipient units; a 17
|
From page 18... ...
Federal aid to state and local governments rose from $20.3 billion in 1969 to $68.4 billion in 1977, when President Ford completed the Nixon term. President Carter launched an ambitious process to formulate and articulate a national urban policy that would, for the first time, make explicit the responsibility of the federal government to confront certain urban problems and work toward their resolution.
|
From page 19... ...
accompanied or not by shifts in the public's expectations of government, will have major consequences for America's cities and force changes in the shape and content of national urban policy. National policy decisions and economic conditions substantially affect state and local government, yet additional forces are at work, including basic shifts in the economy, interregional migration of economic activity and population, technological advances, public attitudes, and court decisions.
|
From page 20... ...
California and Massachusetts provided the starkest examples of voterimposed propositions that rolled back property taxes and limited state tax increases. Limitations on state and local expenditures have spread.
|
From page 21... ...
THE SHIFT TO BLOCK GRANTS In 1981, Congress folded 57 categorical, grant-in-aid programs, mostly in the health and social services area,
|
From page 22... ...
Funds from the Community Services program, which previously went directly to nonprofit organizations and local public agencies, are now channeled through the states. The block Grants nave state Governments Greater flex_ _ ibility and discretion, although not as much as the governors sought.
|
From page 23... ...
Overall, the losses in federal support for state and local infrastructure programs outweigh the gains, and the trend toward greater reliance on user charges and borrowing to finance those needs has accelerated. PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE AND ECONOMIC GROWTH A special report by Business Week (1981:136)
|
From page 24... ...
, shave combined to contribute to lower investment in general, including reduced investment in state and local infrastructure.. PUBLIC-PRIVATE SECTOR RESPONSES Public-private sector relationships are a separate major topic of national urban policy, but they are also an important aspect of state-local adjustments to the major developments of federalism.
|
From page 25... ...
has criticized the Reagan administration's reliance on a private sector response: But there are limits to voluntarism that the Administration refuses to acknowledge. Recent studies indicate that the voluntary sectors will lose some $27 billion in federal aid between 1981 and 1984, and it is unlikely that private donations can plug the gap.
|
From page 26... ...
A number of states brought local officials into planning the implementation of the block grants the Department of Housing and urban DeVelopment required consultation with local governments) , and a few even shared review of grant applications with local officials.
|
From page 27... ...
Efforts by special districts to increase tax levies may be fiercely resisted by city officials, if those increases would restrict the city's own ability to raise revenues. On the other hand, fiscal scarcity could result in more interlocal cooperation in an effort to achieve economies in service delivery.
|
From page 28... ...
These include state fiscal policies; realignment of state-local functional roles; state organizational alternatives; and substate arrangements, such as increased utilization of regional bodies, structural reform, and metropolitan financing. Fiscal Policies Essentially five fiscal policy options are available to the states: raise revenues; modify revenue sources; modify the state program package and reduce expenditures; improve program management and increase targeting of resources; and shift costs and responsibilities to the private sector.
|
From page 29... ...
state adjustments in program priorities could lead to the termination or reduction of some public services that are important to larger cities, but not considered vital by other constituencies in a state. Another alternative is for states to take steps to improve program management and productivity in their service delivery systems and to tighten eligibility for certain programs.
|
From page 30... ...
Program effectiveness can be improved by developing state urban strategies or Community conservation. policies whose purpose is to coordinate and integrate state programs and actions.
|
From page 31... ...
In a major city, the cost of noneducational services may eat up as much as twothirds of all local tax revenues, leaving only the remainder for education, whereas in many suburban areas, where the overburden is lighter, a far greater proportion of local property tax can be put to educational uses. While there has been much progress in increasing state financing of local education, the state percentage of state-local expenditures for education on a national average was still only 53.2 percent in 1982 (USACIR, 1983c)
|
From page 32... ...
Depending on the type of state tax used to finance the service, the state requirements imposed on its delivery and eligible recipients, and the location of the clientele served, the incidence of the tax burden resulting from the shift from local to state financing could be greater on urban residents than on other constituencies. Other State Actions A wide range of other state actions can be undertaken to assist urban governments and residents.
|
From page 33... ...
State Organizational Alternatives Perhaps as significant as individual state actions is the capacity of state government, itself, to address urban policy issues. How state executive and legislative branches are organized can have an impact on statelocal relations.
|
From page 34... ...
Other approaches to improving state-local relations and involving local officials in urban policy decisions are temporary or permanent commissions on state-local affairs and local government study commissions . The organization of state legislative bodies also should be considered in developing state institutional responses to urban policy.
|
From page 35... ...
Federal financial support for regional planning had constituted, on the average, 76 percent of the budgets of generalist regional councils and 92 percent of the specialized regional agencies. A survey (Reid and Stam, 1982)
|
From page 36... ...
There is enormous duplication of effort and considerable inefficiency in the current system of service delivery, some of which could be reduced through regional arrangements. One alternative suggested for reducing service duplication and improving resource allocation is the concept of Regional programming, defined as The explicit
|
From page 37... ...
to examine local government budgets and to ensure that state investments are consistent with regional development. Local Government Reform Structural reform can also contribute to urban problem solving, and several options are available for reorganizing local government.
|
From page 38... ...
Metropolitan Financing It has been argued repeatedly that there are sufficient resources in our metropolitan areas to finance public services, if those resources were properly distributed or shared (Hovey, 1977)
|
From page 39... ...
The assertive language used in the statements is intended to help focus and sharpen the issues confronting urban policy in the changing American federalism. · Federal aid to state and local governments will continue to decline in constant dollar terms and as a percentage of the national budget.
|
From page 40... ...
Marginal increases in sales tax rates and new or increased user charges will provide some added revenue for states and localities. · Private sector responses to the cutbacks in public spending will increase, but will be markedly insufficient in meeting problems of the chronic unemployed and of displaced workers from declining industries.
|
From page 41... ...
Reed, B.J. 1981 States bring local officials into block grant plans.
|
From page 42... ...
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 1982 The National Urban Policy Report.
|
From page 43... ...
:21-32. 1983 The prospects for regional planning.
|
Key Terms
This material may be derived from roughly machine-read images, and so is provided only to facilitate research.
More
information on Chapter Skim is available.