Taxing by the Mile, Not the Gallon
The traditional gas tax isn’t generating enough money for roads and bridges. Could a “road usage tax” replace it?
Difficult State Pension Challenges Await Kentucky’s New Governor
Matt Bevin promised to reform the state’s public worker pension systems. But the Republican faces an uphill struggle.
Here’s What Local Governments Could Have Done With the $43 Million Spent on That Afghan Gas Station
Doing the cost comparison leads to some eyeopening discoveries.
Lawmakers Struggle to Legalize Airbnb
States and cities want to tax and regulate increasingly popular short-term rentals.
How SLED Vendors Can Get Out Ahead of the Bidding Process
Agency connections and procurement data are key to targeting projects earlier than the competition, according to a new white paper.
Mich. Township’s 21-Year-Old Deputy Treasurer Is in Hot Water; Maine Shifts Gears to Weatherization
Also: Some future localized water relief in California’s Central Valley and Utah’s state park system may expand.
Citing Cost to Taxpayers, Cities and States Tackle Obesity
Cities and states are tackling obesity, and with good reason: obesity-related health problems cost the nation as much as $210 billion each year.
Pa.’s Budget War Puts More Programs in Jeopardy; Next Steps for Ohio Minimum Wage Plan
Also: Investigating county jail problems in Kansas City and Airbnb’s impacts on a small town.
Short-term Highway Trust Fund Extensions Complicate Planning For States
There's uncertainty about whether the current trust fund shortfall could delay or reduce federal money state and local governments will receive this year for their transportation needs.
What Makes A Successful Public-Private Partnership?
P3s are gaining steam in the U.S. as governments look to deal with aging infrastructure.
Prisons Lose Truck Contract that Budget-Gridlocked Illinois Can’t Pay; Planned Parenthood Wins in Alabama
Also: New York doctors made to take online course to prescribe pot and Utah Transit execs give up bonuses.
What Could a City Fund With the $180 Million That Wayward Military Blimp Cost?
From St. Louis to South Lake Tahoe to New York City, we look at equivalent local spending or funding needs.
Chicago’s Tough Road to Fill Budget Holes; Why Being Mayor of Portland Is a 'Lousy' Job
Also: An $840,000 salary in Alaska and diluting political crimes investigations in the name of free speech in Wisconsin.
Looking to Realign Its Finances, a Fiscally Boxed-in Wisconsin County Turns to Priority-Based Budgeting
“The decision really was to go back to the basics and say ‘what is it we’re here for?’ And then let’s fund that,” says the county administrator.
Another City Turns to Mow-to-Own Program
Plagued by vacant land maintenance costs, municipalities can reduce blight while putting property back on the tax rolls.
‘Uncertainty Reigns’ for State Revenue as Federal Budget Showdown Looms
States on average receive $1 out of every $3 of revenue from federal grants.
Pennsylvania Lawmakers Push Airport Slots Idea; N.C.’s Legislature Doles Out Downtown Grants Randomly
Also: Concerns over uneven neighborhood policing in Dallas and strong support for cigarette tax hike in Idaho.
Taxing the Cloud: States Are Looking at How to Do It
Storing data on the cloud? Some states are preparing to tax that.
Is This America’s Most Daunting Infrastructure Obstacle?
In order to realize its ambitious high-speed rail dreams, California must first conquer the San Gabriel Mountains. And that's easier said than done.
States Move to Bolster Private Retirement Savings
More than two dozen are considering a variety of plans, which one Brookings Institution expert says might “constitute the most important step toward retirement security in decades.”
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
When you visit our website, we store cookies on your browser to collect information. The information collected might relate to you, your preferences or your device, and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to and to provide a more personalized web experience. However, you can choose not to allow certain types of cookies, which may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings according to your preference. You cannot opt-out of our First Party Strictly Necessary Cookies as they are deployed in order to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting the cookie banner and remembering your settings, to log into your account, to redirect you when you log out, etc.). For more information about the First and Third Party Cookies used please follow this link.
Manage Consent Preferences
Strictly Necessary Cookies - Always Active
We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.
Sale of Personal Data, Targeting & Social Media Cookies
Under the California Consumer Privacy Act, you have the right to opt-out of the sale of your personal information to third parties. These cookies collect information for analytics and to personalize your experience with targeted ads. You may exercise your right to opt out of the sale of personal information by using this toggle switch. If you opt out we will not be able to offer you personalised ads and will not hand over your personal information to any third parties. Additionally, you may contact our legal department for further clarification about your rights as a California consumer by using this Exercise My Rights link
If you have enabled privacy controls on your browser (such as a plugin), we have to take that as a valid request to opt-out. Therefore we would not be able to track your activity through the web. This may affect our ability to personalize ads according to your preferences.
Targeting cookies may be set through our site by our advertising partners. They may be used by those companies to build a profile of your interests and show you relevant adverts on other sites. They do not store directly personal information, but are based on uniquely identifying your browser and internet device. If you do not allow these cookies, you will experience less targeted advertising.
Social media cookies are set by a range of social media services that we have added to the site to enable you to share our content with your friends and networks. They are capable of tracking your browser across other sites and building up a profile of your interests. This may impact the content and messages you see on other websites you visit. If you do not allow these cookies you may not be able to use or see these sharing tools.
If you want to opt out of all of our lead reports and lists, please submit a privacy request at our Do Not Sell page.
Cookie List
A cookie is a small piece of data (text file) that a website – when visited by a user – asks your browser to store on your device in order to remember information about you, such as your language preference or login information. Those cookies are set by us and called first-party cookies. We also use third-party cookies – which are cookies from a domain different than the domain of the website you are visiting – for our advertising and marketing efforts. More specifically, we use cookies and other tracking technologies for the following purposes:
Strictly Necessary Cookies
We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.
Functional Cookies
We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.
Performance Cookies
We do not allow you to opt-out of our certain cookies, as they are necessary to ensure the proper functioning of our website (such as prompting our cookie banner and remembering your privacy choices) and/or to monitor site performance. These cookies are not used in a way that constitutes a “sale” of your data under the CCPA. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not work as intended if you do so. You can usually find these settings in the Options or Preferences menu of your browser. Visit www.allaboutcookies.org to learn more.
Sale of Personal Data
We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.
Social Media Cookies
We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.
Targeting Cookies
We also use cookies to personalize your experience on our websites, including by determining the most relevant content and advertisements to show you, and to monitor site traffic and performance, so that we may improve our websites and your experience. You may opt out of our use of such cookies (and the associated “sale” of your Personal Information) by using this toggle switch. You will still see some advertising, regardless of your selection. Because we do not track you across different devices, browsers and GEMG properties, your selection will take effect only on this browser, this device and this website.