The “economic war among the states (and suburbs)” is on steroids, says Greg LeRoy, founder of Good Jobs First. Large companies such as, General Electric, Tesla, or Boeing have great power to play states and cities against each other for nine- and ten-figure subsidy packages. There is no leadership for restraint from the federal government or the National Governors Association, and no success has been found in state or federal litigation strategies, he says. So activists have demanded greater transparency to win accountability. They have won a great deal of progress: every state now discloses at least some of its deal-making online, which Good Jobs First captures in Subsidy Tracker</a>; money-back clawbacks and job quality standards are commonplace; and some communities have agreed to attach various community benefits to deals. Now with the adoption of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board GASB Statement No. 77 on Tax Abatement Disclosures, a new era of transparency is unfolding: for 2016 and beyond, states and most localities will have to account for the revenue they lose to corporate tax breaks. Even school districts that lose revenue passively will have to report such expenditures. Property taxes, whose records are so extremely dispersed, will be the most affected, gaining the most in transparency. This is significant because property tax abatements often comprise the single largest tax breaks in development deals. Join Greg LeRoy for a brief presentation followed by a conversation with Lincoln Institute President George W. “Mac” McCarthy. This event is the second in a yearlong series that is part of the Lincoln Institute’s campaign to promote municipal fiscal health.

Dubbed “the leading national watchdog of state and local economic development subsidies” and “God’s witness to corporate welfare,” Greg LeRoy @GregLeRoy4 founded and directs Good Jobs First, a national resource center promoting accountability in the >$70 billion spent annually by states and cities for economic development, and smart growth for working families. Good Jobs First is home to Subsidy Tracker, the only national database of subsidy awards (480,000 state, local and federal deals). He is the author of The Great American Jobs Scam: Corporate Tax Dodging and the Myth of Job Creation (2005) and No More Candy Store: States and Cities Making Job Subsidies Accountable (1994). Good Jobs First was recently honored by State Tax Notes magazine as one of two organizations of the year in 2015 for its victory winning a new accounting rule from the Governmental Accounting Standards Board. He earned a BSJ from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and an M.A. in U.S. history from Northern Illinois University.

Research on fiscal retrenchment at the local government level has been severely hampered by limited data on city finances after the Great Recession of 2007-09. This research will present the results of the Municipal Fiscal Retrenchment and Recovery (MFRR) survey, which targeted municipal governments with a population of 50,000 or more, and was implemented from March to June 2015. The MFFR survey targeted appointed managers and budget or finance directors, and had a response rate of approximately 40%. The survey gathered information about different aspects of the fiscal retrenchment and recovery process in city governments. The results show that most cities faced a serious budget crisis in 2009 and 2010. The most frequently cited cause of the crisis was the Great Recession, followed by structural issues such as rapidly increasing expenditures, reliance on a few revenue sources, and tax and expenditure limits, among others. In responding to the budget crisis, cities relied more on expenditure cutting strategies in comparison with revenue-raising approaches. Have cities fully recovered their fiscal health? More than five years after the end of the Great Recession, a large majority–seven out of ten cities–reports that they are on the precipice of another budget crisis. This lecture is the first in a yearlong series that is part of the campaign to promote municipal fiscal health.

Benedict S. Jimenez (PhD, University of Illinois) is Assistant Professor in the Department of Political Science at Northeastern University. He is the recipient of the Clarence N. Stone Scholar Award and the Paul A. Volcker Junior Scholar Award from the American Political Science Association, and the 2009 Donald C. Stone Junior Scholar Award from the American Society for Public Administration. Formerly a faculty member at Rutgers University, his research examines how sub-national governments finance, manage and provide local public goods. Benedict is currently directing a research project that examines how fiscal, institutional, and organizational variables influence the process and outcomes of fiscal retrenchment in cities after the 2007-09 Great Recession. His research has been published in top public administration, public policy, and public budgeting and finance journals such as the Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, Public Administration Review, and Urban Affairs Review, among others.

Cities that finance public projects through municipal bonds owe their investors and the public an accurate and complete picture of their financial health. The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board (MSRB) is the regulator charged with ensuring the fairness and efficiency of the municipal market. Join MSRB Executive Director Lynnette Kelly for an overview of the bond issuance process, the role of financial professionals and the importance of disclosure. Kelly will also introduce the wealth of educational resources in the MRSB’s online Education Center. This event is the third in a yearlong series that is part of the Lincoln Institute’s campaign to promote municipal fiscal health.

The National Conference of State Tax Judges meets annually to review recent state tax decisions, consider methods of dealing with complex tax and valuation disputes, and share experiences in case management. This meeting provides an opportunity for judges to hear and question academic experts in law, valuation, finance, and economics, and to exchange views on current legal issues facing tax courts in different states. This year’s program includes sessions on valuing big box stores; using the going concern approach to value real estate; and tax exemptions.

The annual conference of the International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO) offers state and local assessing officials the opportunity to hear varied perspectives on property tax policy from eminent economists, academics, and practitioners who have a special interest in property taxation. Each year, the Lincoln Institute sponsors a seminar for conference participants on current issues in property tax policy. This year’s sessions will focus on “Tax Increment Financing: Policy and Administrative Challenges.”