This research investigates municipal fiscal policy responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, comparing them to those during the Great Recession using a deductive two-stage approach. First, to illustrate the general trends in municipal fiscal policy responses to these two crises, it compares municipal fiscal policy responses for 100 major U.S. cities. Then, through an in-depth investigation of four selected cities, it explores unique fiscal reactions to similar financial and environmental challenges. Providing a current overview of municipal fiscal responses, this study informs policymakers about dynamics in fiscal policy formulation across diverse fiscal environments.
AfonsoW. (2021). Planning for the unknown: Local government strategies from the fiscal year 2021 budget season in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. State and Local Government Review, 53(2), 159–171.
2.
AfonsoW.AllenM.CareyR. (2021). The great lockdown’s impact on the City of Charlotte’s budget. Municipal Finance Journal, 42(1), 23–42.
3.
AmielL.DellerS. C.StallmannJ. (2009). The Construction of a tax and expenditure limitation index for the U.S. (Staff Paper No. 536). Department of Agricultural & Applied Economics, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
ChapmanJ.GorinaE. (2012). Effects of the form of government and property tax limits on local finance in the context of revenue and expenditure simultaneity. Public Budgeting & Finance, 32(4), 19–45.
6.
DouglasJ. W.GaddieR. K. (2002). State rainy day funds and fiscal crises: Rainy day funds and the 1990–1991 recession revisited. Public Budgeting & Finance, 22, 19–30.
7.
GianakisG.SnowD. (2007). The implementation and utilization of stabilization funds by local governments in Massachusetts. Public Budgeting & Finance, 27(1), 86–103.
8.
HembreeH.SheltonM.TyerC. (1999). Benchmarking and local government reserve funds: Theory versus practice. Public Management, 81(9), 16–21.
9.
HendrickR. (2011). Managing the fiscal metropolis: The financial policies, practices, and health of suburban municipalities. Georegtown University Press.
10.
HendrickR.CrawfordJ. (2014). Municipal fiscal policy space and fiscal structure: Tools for managing spending volatility. Public Budgeting & Finance, 34(3), 24–50.
11.
HendrickR.PhamT.Mason-TerzakisJ. (2021). COVID-19 impacts on big city budgets: The City of Chicago. Municipal Finance Journal, 42(2), 5.
12.
HerriottR. E.FirestoneW. A. (1983). Multisite qualitative policy research: Optimizing description and generalizability. Educational Researcher, 12(2), 14–19.
13.
HouY. (2003). What stabilizes state general fund expenditures in downturn years: Budget stabilization fund or general fund unreserved undesignated balance?Public Budgeting & Finance, 23(3), 64–91.
14.
KiokoS. N. (2015). Impact of tax and expenditure limitations on local government savings. In HouY. (Ed.), Local government budget stabilization (pp. 141–169). Springer.
15.
KruegerS.FischerL. A.BenavidesA. D. (2021). Health disasters and local government finance: City of Dallas budget strategies during the COVID-19 pandemic. Municipal Finance Journal, 42(2), 29–49.
16.
LevineC. H. (1978). Organizational decline and cutback management. Public Administration Review, 38(4), 316–325.
17.
MaherC. S.DellerS. C. (2013). Measuring the impacts of TELs on municipal financial conditions. In LevineH.JusticeJ.ScorsoneE. (Eds.), Handbook of local government fiscal health (pp. 405–426). Jones & Bartlett Learning.
18.
MaherC. S.HoangT.HinderyA. (2020), Fiscal responses to COVID-19: Evidence from local governments and nonprofits. Public Administration Review, 80, 644–650.
19.
MarloweJ. (2005). Fiscal slack and counter-cyclical expenditure stabilization: A first look at the local level. Public Budgeting & Finance, 25(3), 48–72.
20.
MoreiraA.HickR. (2021). COVID-19, the Great Recession and social policy: Is this time different?Social Policy & Administration, 55(2), 261–279.
21.
NelsonK. L. (2012). Municipal choices during a recession: Bounded rationality and innovation. State and Local Government Review, 44(1_suppl), 44S–63S.
PaganoM. A.HoeneC. W. (2010). States and the fiscal policy space of cities. In BellM.BrunoriD.YoungmanJ. (Eds.), The property tax and local autonomy (pp. 243–284). Lincoln Institute of Land Policy.
24.
PaganoM. A.HoeneC.WuY. (2013, November 21-23). The fiscal policy space of cities [Paper presentation]. National Tax Association Annual Meetings, Tampa (pp. 21–23).
25.
ParkW.PathakR. (2021). The pandemic and New York City finances: Emerging C=challenges and short-term responses. Municipal Finance Journal, 42(1), 43–61.
26.
ShadbegianR. J. (1999). The effect of tax and expenditure limitations on the revenue structure of local government, 1962–87. National Tax Journal, 52, 221–237.
27.
ShiY.Yazici AydemirN.WuY. (2018). What factors drive municipal fiscal policy adoption? An empirical investigation of major cities in the United States. State and Local Government Review, 50(3), 177–188.
28.
SinglaA.MughanS.HowellA. (2021). The effects of the COVID-19 crisis on the city of Phoenix’s budget and creditworthiness. Municipal Finance Journal, 42(1), 63–91.
29.
SkidmoreM.ScorsoneE. A. (2011). Causes and consequences of fiscal stress in Michigan cities. Regional Science and Urban Economics, 41, 360–371.
30.
StallmannJ. I.MaherC. S.DellerS. C.ParkS. (2017). Surveying the effects of limitations on taxes and expenditures: What do/don’t we know. Journal of Public and Nonprofit Affairs, 3(2), 197–222.
31.
StewartL. S. M.HammanJ. A.Pink-HarperS. A. (2018). The stabilization effect of local government savings: The case of Illinois counties. Public Budgeting & Finance, 38(2), 23–39.
32.
SuM. (2020). Local governments’ responses to revenue changes: The effects of unreserved general fund balances. International Journal of Public Administration, 43(11), 964–976.
33.
SuM.HildrethW. B. (2018). Does financial slack reduce municipal short-term borrowing?Public Budgeting & Finance, 38(1), 95–113.
34.
TomesB. W. E.BergerA. B.BassettM. E. (2011). Using unassigned funds to balance the budget. Government Finance Review, 54, 45–48.
VerickS.IslamI. (2010). The Great Recession of 2008-2009: Causes, consequences and policy responses (IZA Discussion Paper No. 4934). SSRN. https://ssrn.com/abstract=1631069 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1631069
37.
WarnerM. E.AldagA. M.KimY. (2021). Pragmatic municipalism: US local government responses to fiscal stress. Public Administration Review, 81(3), 389–398.
38.
WolmanH. (1980). Local government strategies to cope with fiscal pressure. In LevineC. H.RubinI. (Eds.), Fiscal stress and public policy (pp. 231–248). Sage.
39.
YinR. K. (2014). Case study research: Design and method (5th ed.). Sage.
