edited by: David Miller,
Utah Editor
The latest ’stop light’ chart of Utah’s economic indicators, prepared by ULCT economist Doug Macdonald. A few indicators are starting to improve: residential construction is up 4.5% over the last three months and unemployment claims in the state of Utah are starting to slow. [...] 
Do monkeys follow the same principles of economics as humans? This is a great podcast from Planet Money, you can listen here: Economics for Monkeys. [...] 
A number of important national indicators will be released this week. Here is a quick summary:
Retail sales are expected to be down -2.7 percent. 10/14
Retail sales ex. Autos are expected to be down -0.3 percent. 10/14
Business inventories are predicted to [...] [...] 
Interesting chart in the New York Times yesterday illustrating the change in retail sales since 2003. Of course consumers are definitely spending less money, but not all retailers or sectors are being impacted equally. Not surprisingly motor vehicle sales has experienced the sharpest decline. [...] 
Every month Doug Macdonald, ULCT’’s economist, puts together a summary of key economic indicators for Utah. These indicators are summarized in this snapshot with either green (improving), yellow (stable), red (declining) lights. To no surprise the summary is still filled with a lot of red. [...] 
Important national econimic indicators due out this week:
Tuesday — Housing Price Index for April (expected -0.3%)
Wednesday — New home sales for May (expected 360,000, up 8,000)
Thursday — Personal consumption for the 1st quarter (expected +1.5%)
Friday — Personal spending for May (expected 0.3%, up 0.4% from April) [...] 
Tuesday — Wholesale inventories for April, expected -1.1%
Wednesday — Trade balance for April, expected -29.0 billion
Thursday — Advance retail sales for May, expected +0.5%
Friday — Import Price Index for May, expected +1.4% [...] 
Milton Friedman — Power of The Market
Landsburg — The Power of Incentives [...] 
There is a very interesting 4 minute story this morning on NPR’s Morning Edition (thanks Brian for the heads up). You can listen to the story here: NPR explaining challenges with municipal bonds
[...] I will be honest I’m not sure I completely understand the Wall St. bailout…but I am a bit surprised to see that Congress voted down the bailout bill today. I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised, both sides of the isle have Congressmen who hate it: Dems hate it [...]
I’m not trying to be a Wednesday Debbie Downer, but is anyone else getting depressed when checking the national headlines? Seriously take a look at the headlines throughout the Wall Street Journal this morning…
Nearly a year ago we started our Making Life Better Campaign, which provides resources to help Utah’s local officals tell their story about the services provided in their respective municipalities. Our theory is that many a’ property-tax-paying Utahn has little idea what they’re getting for [...]
I thought this was an interesting post on the CEOs for Cities blog…the “world’s first contextual drainage system“? Maybe this is exactly what is needed to spice up a cities’ downtown. However, I have no idea what this costs…and with many cities looking to cut budgets wherever possible [...]
There are a number of great advantages to walking…increased health, opportunity to visit with neighbors, plus anything that decreases your dependence on fuel is great right now. We all can save a little $$$ by walking to a few more destinations. My neighborhood only scored [...]
Are increasing gas prices to blame for the bubble bursting in the housing market? According to a recent report conducted by the Ceos for Cities organization there is some relationship between gas prices and the housing market. Or more specifically, they claim that the price of homes in the [...]
There is no question that the baby boomers are beginning to reach retirement age. Over 300 Americans turn 60 each hour of the day. So what does this mean? Should we fear the increasing over 65 population and the potential costs this will create [...]
The debate over sales tax driving economic decisions (or the “zoning for dollars”) has been an important discussion for local officials for years. Despite the years of debate it isn’t exactly clear how much sales tax revenue dictates local land use decisions and more importantly to what extent the [...]
Property taxes are frequrently cited as the most hated tax, partially because they are also the least understood tax. One reason property tax is more complicated is because of the various tax entitites and their differing tax rates (as illustrated with this picture). However, [...]
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson both stated today that the federal cut in rates and the economic stimulus plan could keep the economy out of a recession. Esentially Bernanke and Paulson predict that the economy could be “sluggish” for the first couple months of [...]
January has been full of speculation about Utah’s economy and the economy throughout the rest of the nation. There is no question that the housing market has cooled, but there are other economic indicators in Utah that still appear optimistic. In an effort to better understand the strength of [...]
At least a dozen states are anticipating significant budget shortfalls in 2008. The biggest crisis is occurring in California where Governor Schwarzenegger has declared a fiscal emergency — after reporting a $4.6 billion revenue shortfall. Schwarzenegger recommended reducing every state program by 10%. One in interesting quote in the [...]
There have been some pretty unusual stories in the press this week, related to city government and municipal elected officials. I can’t help but blog about a couple of these stories. Here is a quick recap:
Monday — New Delhi Deputy Mayor S.S. Bajwa was attacked by wild monkeys…which led [...]
An interesting op-ed piece in the Boston Globe recently addressed the role of property tax as a revenue source for local government and schools. The authors of this piece argue that property tax is hated because it is visible (which I think we can all agree with), but they [...]
There have been a number of questions about the tax changes made during the 2007 Legislative session and how they will impact Utah cities and towns. In particular, there have been questions about what action cities may have to take in response to legislative actions.
It should be noted that [...]
What has spurred the incredible growth in American suburbs over the last few decades? A Fannie Mae Foundation commissioned survey (of urban scholars) identified these top five contributing factors:
1. The 1956 Interstate Highway Act and the dominance of the automobile
2. Federal Housing Administration mortgage financing and subdivision regulation
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Last week the U.S. Senate passed resolution 297, co-sponsored by Senators Orrin Hatch and Bob Bennett, to honor the 100th anniversary of the Utah League of Cities and Towns.
“I am grateful that my colleagues have joined with me in supporting this resolution and in wishing the members of the League [...]
A new study released by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) predicts that large and growing fiscal challenges will confront state and local governments in the coming years. Absent policy changes, the study finds that within the next decade expenditures will exceed revenues in the state and local government [...]
I was intrigued when I grabbed the Deseret News this morning and saw the headline “Tax rates are jumping” and I admit I was pretty surprised to see that residents of Kanarraville would be paying $172.70 more in property taxes. So I did a little research and it [...]
Utah now has 244 cities and towns. Monday Ruby’s Inn incorporated and created Bryce Canyon City, population 138. However, while only a population of 138 Bryce Canyon City represents around 70 to 75% of Garfield County’s sales tax revenue.
I was actually in Bryce Canyon [...]
Is there a limit to what services government should provide? Who draws the line? I think the debate between providing public services and competing with private sector is a great discussion. I used find myself strongly in the libertarian camp, but have come to appreciate many of the public programs/services [...]
So I haven’t read the book yet, so I can’t give a full review…but I think the topic is really interesting. The Brookings Institution just published a new book Boomburbs: The Rise of America’s Accidental Cities. This book documents the growth of [...]
Cities are at the center of the great 21st century political and social policy related questions. At least according to Dr. Neil Bradford author of the research study Why Cities Matter. His report focuses on Canadian cities, but I think much of his study [...]
The National League of Cities is partnering with a nonprofit organization called KaBOOM! to help create recreation opportunities for kids. Earlier this year, KaBOOM! launched its Playful City USA program to encourage cities to take the initiative to make room for “play” on their community agendas. To gain [...]
ordinance that won’t allow us to park on our own front lawn. This is an outrage! This is the [...] The Florida Legislature last week in special session passed an interesting tax cut in two parts… First, the tax-cut requires cities and counties to hold tax rates at 2006 levels – and then cut up to another 9 percent, depending on how much they raised taxes over the past [...]
A few interesting articles from across the state the last couple of days:
I keep hearing about America shipping more and more manufacturing jobs overseas (to China), and the American economy becoming more dependent on foreign countries. I agree with some of this, but not to the extent as the sky-is-falling-critics (you know who you are).
Anyhow, it appears in the midst of this [...]
Apparently scooters (think of a suped-up wheelchair), designed primarily for disabled users, are being rented by able bodied tourists in Vegas. I can just see Mark Fenton, from our April conference, going crazy over this article. The city of extreme gluttony is now adding another item to the list…hopefully [...]
One great thing about summer in Utah is the number of festivals and weekend events across the state. I know summer doesn’t officially begin for a few weeks…but the city festivals are now in full swing. I thought I would feature a few city gatherings throughout the summer–beginning with the [...]
Utah’s property tax burden still ranks as one of the lowest rates in the nation. According to the latest U.S. Census Bureau finance numbers and the Utah Foundation analysis property tax is the least burdensome tax Utahns pay. A couple of findings to note from the Utah Foundation study [...]
Are we becoming a world of walls dividing our neighborhoods and countries? What are the consequences of creating these physical boundaries? I found this article on Reuters interesting: Around the globe, walls spring up to divide neighbors. In my opinion, I have some concerns about these physical walls dividing [...]
What happens when a city owes $6.2 million to a wastewater treatment company and only has a $300,000 reserve? Ask the city of McCall in Idaho. The options are pretty grim for this small Idaho resort town:
For local governments May is budget season. A number of cities are presenting their budgets for the 2007-08 fiscal year (Mayor Billings’ presents Provo’s budget on a bus tour of the city). I’m sure you’ll see a lot more news stories about city budgets as they are debated and [...]
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