Office hours: W 10:00 A.m. to 12:00 pm or by appointment
Office: East Faculty Bldg Calexico Campus 109/ E-Mail: kcrockett@mail.sdsu.edu
PA 450: Fiscal and Budgetary Policy Spring 2014
Professor: Kelley Crockett PhD.
Where and When: Calexico Campus Room LA 003; W 12:55 – 3:35 p.m.
Course Description and Purpose
This course surveys the fundamental principles of public finance and the public budgetary process. It
provides students with an understanding of state and local taxation policies and philosophies, types of
revenue sources used by local governments to fund services, the role of capital improvement plans, short
and long range financial planning and organizational values that are reflected in the budget cycle.
Course Learning Objectives
Upon successfully completing this course students will have:
1. Applied managerial, political, financial, and ethical perspectives to persuade public organization
decision-makers of fiscal priorities in financial planning
2. Surveyed literature that defines the structural foundation of revenue generation including income,
sales and property taxes, user charges, grants-in-aid and other income as well as read about
strategies and best practices in the allocation, management and financial control of budgeting
3. Analyzed actual budgets of public entities
4. Utilized critical thinking skills via application of alternative scenarios for budget building
5. Integrated decision making techniques to solve complex challenges to fiscal policy
implementation
Texts
There is one required text as well as articles that will be made available on Blackboard
Mikesell, John, Fiscal Administration: Analysis and Applications for the Public Sector 9th edition, Boston,
Wadsworth Publishing, 2013
Please note this book can be rented.
Course Requirements
Student preparation and participation is mandatory. Excessive absences, late arrivals or leaving early,
lack of reading, lack of participation during class discussions or distracting others will result in an inability
to satisfactorily master the content of the class. Students are expected to be prepared for every class.
This expectation includes reading the material assigned for that week before the scheduled class. The
instructor reserves the right to change or supplement the reading assignments or schedule as the
situation dictates.
Assessment
A final exam, a 4-5 page budget research report, a blog project and oral presentation on the budget
research, 5 open book T/F or multiple choice quizzes, an in class quiz, individual written presentations of
a relevant news article and a few in class or online exercises are required for this course. The exercises
stress the applied aspects of revenue policy, budget strategy and administration and are designed to help
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prepare you for similar questions on the final exam. Please note that this is a technology-integrated
course in which we will use Blackboard (http://blackboard.sdsu.edu) to access additional lecture materials
and where students will turn in all quizzes, written support of their news presentation, the budget report,
and the blog project. The instructor reserves the right to change or supplement the reading assignments
or schedule as the situation dictates.
Individual News Presentation
Students will analyze and present online a current (within two weeks of the date assigned) local, state or
federal budget news piece. Each presentation must include a short narrative of two to three paragraphs
that describes the main point (s) of the news piece, it’s relevance to budgeting or public sector finance
and a reflection about how biased the source might be (note if the news is from an interest group website,
a magazine, an online newspaper etc.). Please include the URL address of the article at the top of the
written paragraphs (checking the link to make sure it works) and upload it in Blackboard under your name
in the discussions section before midnight of the date due. Due dates will be assigned. If another student
has already posted that same exact article then it is the responsibility of the student to find a different
one. You may post your article and narrative up to two weeks prior to your assigned date. Please be
prepared to briefly discuss your news article in class. All students should read the online news postings
and be prepared to participate in discussing them in class.
Paper/Project Blog/Presentation
Students will be responsible for a four to five page report that discusses a Northern California (North of
Sacramento and San Francisco) city budget in narrative form. Students are encouraged to call the city
manager or financial director of their target city to get their perspective on what budget challenges the city
faces in 2014 and how that is affecting their 2013-2014-budget cycle.
The report must include information about the county in which the city is located. This will be uploaded to
Blackboard via turn-it-in.com by 12:00 p.m. on March 19, 2014. You must therefore pick a city that has
posted their 2013-2014 budget online. You must post your city’s budget link in Bb for approval by the
instructor no later than February 12, 2014. You will present the highlights of your budget research on your
city via a blog in Blackboard and then present it to the class using the blog tool in Bb. You may add
pictures and provide any other visual media in order to further clarify the choices and challenges that your
city budget director and staff face(d) in the 2013-2014 budget cycle. Each component, the paper, the blog
and the presentation will be graded separately.
Higher points will be given to those papers that reflect:
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An analysis of the city’s revenue structure and sources including tax and non-tax revenues as
well as the stability of the revenue sources. Include how the city’s location affects their budget.
Expectation of level of service provided and any changes from prior years.
Discussion on challenges to the continued viability of revenue sources and level of services.
Information from the city’s representative describing their current and future budgetary challenges
and advantages.
Final persuasive paragraph recommending equity or efficiency changes.
Adherence to the format of no more than four to five pages long, double spaced using 12 pt font
with 1 inch margins all around.
Use of academic language and third person narrative (no “I” or “We”).
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Higher points will be given to those blogs that demonstrate:
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A short introduction (could be visual with bullet points or prose) of the student’s chosen city,
including a visual representation such as a logo and how the city is marketed.
A clear understanding of the fiscal positives and negatives facing the organization in general and
specifically this year.
An organized visual appearance using illustrations, text boxes, inserted material, variety in font
size or other means to clearly set apart different pieces of the budget puzzle.
Purposeful introduction of (could even be just a heading) and placement of relevant information
(not just random cutting and pasting from the city’s site).
Does not use PowerPoint or Word but posts directly into the Blog tool.
Higher points will be given to those oral presentations that demonstrate:
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A high degree of familiarity with both the budget as a topic and of the specific city budget that
you have researched.
Enthusiasm and engagement of your peers when presenting, not just reading the blog to us.
Your knowledge of an aspect of your research that you found to be similar to either a news
story that had been presented, some aspect of budgeting mentioned in the lectures or to the
information in the book. In other words make a connection between what you researched and
what you have learned in the course work.
Quizzes and Final Exam
In addition to the 5 online quizzes there will be an in class quiz (closed book) on Chapters 3 and 4. During
the week that an online quiz is due you will have from Wednesday at 4:00 p.m. until Sunday at 11:00 p.m.
in which to log onto Bb and take the quiz. Each online quiz has is open book and is timed to 15 minutes.
The quizzes are not collaborative; giving answers to quiz questions can result in a zero. The final exam is
comprehensive and the format is short answer, true/false and multiple-choice questions.
Course Grading
Final Exam
5 Online quizzes
In class quiz
Budget Paper
Budget Blog
Presentation of Budget Blog
Budget news presentation
Participation
20%
25%
5%
15%
15%
10%
5%
5%
Plagiarism and Cheating
You must cite (use APA style) the author and the source of any quotes or any paraphrase of someone
else’s work in your paper. Those who do not cite quoted work may receive a fail on the paper and a
warning or referral for possible suspension, probation or expulsion.
Accommodations
Students who need accommodations of their disabilities should contact me privately to discuss specific
accommodations for which they have received authorization. If you have a disability please contact me
after you have contacted the Student Disability Services at 760.768.5509.
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Course Outline and Reading Schedule
Jan 22: Introduction to Fiscal and Budgetary Policy
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Syllabus review
PowerPoint lecture in class “Fiscal and Budgetary Policy”
Sign up for your Northern California city in Blackboard - ongoing
Jan 29: Fundamentals of Public Finance and the Budget
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Read Mikesell Chapter 1 & 2
PowerPoint lecture in class “Logic of the Budget Process”
Sign up for your Northern California city in Blackboard - ongoing
Online in BB Quiz 1 on Chapters 1 and 2 (Complete by Feb 2 at 11:00 p.m.)
Feb 5: Budgeting Reforms
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Read Mikesell Chapters 3 & 4
PowerPoint lecture in class “Budget Cycles”
In class exercise Case 4-1 p 218 Mikesell text
Presenting local, state and federal budget news
Sign up for your Northern California city in Blackboard – ongoing
In Class Quiz on Chapters 3-4
Feb 12: Budgeting and Cost –Benefit Analysis
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Read Mikesell Chapter 5 & 6
PowerPoint lecture in class “Cost Benefit Analysis”
Presenting local, state and federal budget news
Northern California city budget sign up DUE today
Online in BB Quiz 2 on Chapters 5-6 (Complete by Feb 16 by 11:00 p.m.)
Feb 19: Revenue - Taxation
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Read Mikesell Chapter 8
“Reading a budget” Preparing your paper/project discussion
PowerPoint lecture in class “Standards for Tax Policy”
Presenting local, state and federal budget news
Feb 26: Revenue – Tax Structures: Income Taxes
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Read Mikesell Chapter 9
PowerPoint lecture in class “ Income Taxation”
Presenting local, state and federal budget news
Online in BB Quiz 3 on Chapters 8 and 9 (Complete by Mar 2 by 11:00 p.m.)
Mar 5: Revenue - Tax Structures: Sales Taxes
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Read Mikesell Chapter 10
PowerPoint lecture in class “Taxes on Goods and Services”
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Presenting local, state and federal budget news
Mar 12: Tax Structures: Property Taxes
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Read Mikesell Chapter 11
PowerPoint lecture in class “Property Taxes”
Presenting local, state and federal budget news
Online in BB Quiz 4 on Chapters 10 and 11 (Complete by Mar 16 by 11:00 p.m.)
Mar 19: Revenue- User Fees and Sales by Public Monopolies
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Read Mikesell Chapter 12
PowerPoint lecture in class “User Fees”
Presenting local, state and federal budget news
Budget reports due today by 4 p.m. in BB
Mar 26: Revenue, Financing and Debt
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Read Mikesell Chapter 15
PowerPoint lecture in class “Municipal Debt”
Online in BB Quiz 5 on Chapters12 and 15 (Complete by Mar 30 by 11:00 p.m.)
Blog Presentations in class
Mar 31– Apr 5: Spring Break
Apr 9: Intergovernmental Fiscal Relations: Diversity and Coordination
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Read Mikesell Chapter 14
PowerPoint lecture in class “Cash Management in Public Administration”
Blog Presentations in class
Apr 16: Blog Presentations in class
Apr 23: Blog Presentations in class
Apr 30: Blog Presentations in class
May 7: Revenue Forecasts and Estimates
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PowerPoint lecture in class “Predicting a balanced future”
Blog Presentations in class
Review for final exam
May 14: Final Exam
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