Strategies for Improved Revenue Generation in Local Governments

Between 1975 and 1996, per person, GDP grew by almost 90%, taxes more than doubled, government transfers went up more than 160%, and average household income net of taxes grew by almost 50%. Income grew significantly. The proportion of national income directed via government grew far more significantly. Although there has been some problems with the economy during this period such as unemployment which has grown from 4 per cent to 8.5 percent, also the average duration of unemployment grew from 6 weeks to 52 weeks.

Instead of focusing on diversifying, the leaders of the country focus on gaining power and standing in the government. “Nigeria’s most daunting challenge lies in overcoming the severe divisions among its competing religious and ethnic groups” . Moreover, once they gain it, their problems do not end, since they must look over their back, never knowing how long they will hold on to the little power they have. Meanwhile, the common person suffers, as he is neglected by his government and must survive on his own. “The standard of living declined even further than before and external debts increased.” This neglect of the common man bodes ill for the government, as it is the common man who votes in the polls. However, the vote does very little, since corruption is rampant in Nigeria.

There are four local sources of income to support school districts property tax, sales tax, income tax, and sumptuary taxes.

In conclusion, every governing body holds a certain power for management and development of the cities, state, and nation. What I believe is that the local government should get power in policy making and make other decisions of particular areas within the state because local government will have more information about what are the actual need and wants of people of their locality. However, the local government should cooperate with the state government while implementing their policies. Furthermore, the laws and policies should be implemented by looking at all perceptive and values of the people over these issues.

The main ingredient for a local government bankruptcy to happen is structural weaknesses in the systems and policies of the local government unit (LGU) coupled with political facilitators within the LGU. These weaknesses may refer to rules that are not being followed when issuing licenses or permits, say on building permit or excavation permit in order to favor a friend or a political ally. Poor financial management is another trigger for LGU bankruptcy when an elected official pressures the certain officers and staff in the unit in releasing funds to his/her ambitious project because election time is nearing. This can only be done with the cooperation or collusion of people within the bureaucracy because in return they may also get some paybacks from the elected official. The check-and-balance systems should be in place to prevent getting into the "red". There should be transparency. Periodic audits should be done by an independent party.

The federal fiscal framework engages the mechanisms of intergovernmental relations in which the issues of resource organization, division, shortages and transfers, garner conflict and are greater enhanced by the regional and socio-political differences and interests inherent throughout Canada. Federalism is the autonomous division of power allotted

leader who is believed to be a god or the human representative of god, government by a person

Chapters 2 through 8 describe accounting and financial reporting by state and local governments. A continuous problem is presented to provide an overview of the reporting process, including preparation of fund basis and government-wide statements. The problem assumes the government is using fund accounting for its internal record-keeping and then at year-end makes necessary adjustments to prepare the government-wide statements. The problem that follows is presented in the same order as the textbook (beginning with Chapters 3, and

To begin with, revenue is the money governments bring in, mainly from taxes. Why do we have state revenues? We have state revenue to help fund important services. Three areas of spending make up over half of state spending, on average. These three areas are K-12 education, higher education, and health care. Where do state revenues come from? More than half of state and local governments in 2008 came from six primary taxes. These came from sales taxes, including excise taxes, property taxes, income taxes, motor vehicle taxes, estate taxes, and gift taxes. As states struggled to balance their budgets, they turned to all of these taxes for help. They raised almost $24 billion in tax and fee increases in their 2010 budgets alone.

The public is more affected by local government and can more easily effect local government than any other level of government in the United States. Though, national and state governments usually get most of the attention of the media, local government interacts with the public daily. Local government is also the area where the community can have the most influence. With elections that include few voters and meetings open and accessible to everyone, citizens can change their city and county government much more efficiently than the state or national government. Running for office at a local level is clearly much more simple and less expensive. Local governments enforce services for the states to improve efficiency and allow for diversity in services for the public throughout the state. National, state and local governments although separate, work together for a functioning overall governance.

In this assignment I am going to state how financial information is used to support public services operational objectives and how they publish, report and measure financial performance. I am also going to evaluate how efficiency and effectiveness are measured by organisation, while evaluating good practice methods of managing procurement and contracting of services and also the impact of the political environment on the funding of public service organisations.

Local government is one of the most vital components in a democracy. It is the only institution where the mass of citizens can directly interact with their elected representatives and therefore a medium for conveying the interests of the people to the central government. I think it is best explained as follows, “local democracy is not something distinct from the democratic life of the nation—it is part of the wider system, as a limb is part of the body. If the local arm of the democratic state is amputated, the whole body politic is incapacitated. When the forces of centralism undermine local democracy, on the grounds of efficiency, cost saving or whatever, they attack the very soul of the polity.” (Temple,

in the rural and semi-urban sector, which used to be the bastion of the State Bank

Development is defined as “the process of change operating over time- the process by which countries and societies advance and become richer’’. The modern 20th century defines development as” the process of change which allows all the basic needs of a region to be met, thereby achieving greater social justice and quality of life and encouraging people to fulfill their potential’’. Todaro defines development as “the process of improving the quality of all human lives through raising people’s living standards, their incomes, consumption levels of food, medical services, education, raising people’s self-esteem through the establishment of social, political and economic systems and institutions that promote dignity and respect and increasing people’s

The developmental state gives priority to economic growth rather than political reform. It is of strong ambition to develop economy;