LeRoy Collins Institute
Fiscal Stress in
Florida Municipalities
David S. T. Matkin
Askew School of Public Administration & Policy
May 6, 2009
LeRoy Collins Institute ~ Carol Weissert, Ph. D., Director
FSU Campus ~ 506 W Pensacola Street Tallahassee FL 32306-1601
850-644-1441 ~ 850-644-1442 fax
Fiscal Stress
Effects of Fiscal Stress
• Reduce public service provision
• Increase long-term costs
– Increase risk to external stakeholders
– Defer capital maintenance
• Harm economic development
• Reduce public confidence
• Drain on others’ resources
Unique Features
• Longitudinal data over more than 30 years
• Disaggregate data
• Supplemental data
– Demographics
– Governance Structure
– Policy effects
Descriptive Questions
• Who is in fiscal stress?
• How has fiscal stress changed over the
past 30 years?
• Who pays the price for fiscal stress?
• What is the relationship between state
activity and local government fiscal stress?
Conceptual Questions
• How do we know if a government is in
fiscal stress?
• Why do governments go into fiscal stress
and can we predict it?
• Why do governments come out of fiscal
stress and how do we know when they
have?
Implications
• Improve capacity to prevent fiscal crises
• Identify strategies to reduce the likelihood
of fiscal stress
• Expand understanding of effects and
duration of episodes of fiscal stress
• Assess the impact of external events
Questions & Thoughts