University of Illinois Press The People's Money: Pensions, Debt, and Government Services (The Urban Agenda)

American cities continue to experience profound fiscal crises. Falling revenues cannot keep pace with the increased costs of vital public services, infrastructure development and improvement, and adequately funded pensions. Chicago presents an especially vivid example of these issues, as the state of Illinois's rocky fiscal condition compounds the city's daunting budget challenges. In The People's Money, Michael A. Pagano curates a group of essays that emerged from discussions at the 2018 UIC Urban Forum. The contributors explore fundamental questions related to measuring the fiscal health of cities, including how cities can raise revenue, the accountability of today's officials for the future financial position of a city, the legal and practical obstacles to pension reform and a balanced budget, and whether political collaboration offers an alternative to the competition that often undermines regional governance.Contributors: Jered B. Carr, Rebecca Hendrick, Martin J. Luby, David Merriman, Michael A. Pagano, David Saustad, Casey Sebetto, Michael D. Siciliano, James E. Spiotto, Gary Strong, Shu Wang, and Yonghong Wu Review "Michael Pagano is a leader in thinking and writing about critical government finance issues. In The People's Money, he and the contributors provide sound and thorough research that serves both the academic and the government finance practitioner. I recommend it to those who want to understand government finance challenges so they can better serve their communities."--Chris Morrill, Executive Director/CEO, Government Finance Officers Association "Recommended. All readers." -- Choice About the Author Michael A. Pagano is Dean of the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs, Director of the Government Finance Research Center and a professor of public administration at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). He is a fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration, nonresident Senior Fellow the Brookings Institution, and editor of The Public Infrastructure of Work and Play, Jobs and the Labor Force of Tomorrow, and other books in the Urban Agenda series.