City Fiscal Condtions in 2012
The nation’s cities continue to cut personnel, infrastructure investments and key services as the prolonged effects of the economic downturn take their toll on city finances according to the National League of Cities 27th annual City Fiscal Conditions report.

NLC to Partner on MacArthur-Funded Study of City Fiscal Health (May 21, 2012)
The National League of Cities Center for Research & Innovation has received a three-year grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to study city governments' responses to and recovery from the Great Recession. NLC will analyze U.S. cities' public investment and fiscal health in a collaborative project with the University of Illinois at Chicago's College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs and be advised by a working group of the Federal Reserve System, led by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.

City Fiscal Conditions in 2011
The nation's cities are cutting personnel and infrastructure projects as the economic downturn continues to take its toll on city finances according to the National League of Cities' (NLC) 26th annual City Fiscal Conditions report.

Select Cities Lead the Pack in Providing Investor Relations Content
The College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs (CUPPA) at the University of Illinois at Chicago and MuniNetGuide.com recently surveyed the 75 largest cities in the U.S. to identify those that stand out as frontrunners in providing online investor information.  

Local Governments Cutting Jobs and Services (2010)
Unemployment in America is a national crisis. It is also a local crisis. As individuals and families struggle to find work, make ends meet, and keep their homes amid an anemic economic recovery, they increasingly turn to local services for support.

State of America's Cities Survey on Jobs and the Economy (2010)
Three in four (75%) city officials report that overall economic and fiscal conditions have worsened over the past year. To deal with the fiscal implications of declining economic conditions, seven in ten city officials report making cuts to personnel (71%), including hiring freezes, layoffs, and furloughs, and delaying or canceling capital projects (68%). Twenty-two percent of city officials indicate they are cutting public safety budgets, which is typically an option of last resort.

Fiscal Challenges Facing Cities: Implications for Recovery (2009)
The current economic crisis is not only a national crisis; it is also a metropolitan crisis. And soon the downturn will bring a local government fiscal crisis. Given the normal lag time of 18 to 24 months between changes in the economic cycle and its impact on city fiscal conditions, local officials anticipate that the next year or two will bring large-scale city government layoffs, deep cuts to local government services, and halted or delayed capital projects. Just as federal stimulus package spending trails off, city fiscal dynamics could well place a serious drag on economic recovery.

City Budget Shortfalls and Responses: Projections for 2010-2012 (2009)
While the nation's economy may be approaching the late stages of the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, local government budget tightening and spending cuts over the next several years could well impose a significant drag on the nation's economic recovery. Cities face layoffs, canceled contracts with small businesses and vendors, reduced services and sizable budget shortfalls for 2009 that are expected to grow much more severe and widespread from 2010 to 2012.

Cities and State Fiscal Structure (2008)
This report examines state-local fiscal structures and the way in which state fiscal regimes do or do not create a fiscal environment that makes it difficult for municipalities to effectively fund their own activities - including those that contribute to economic development at the local and regional levels.

The National League of Cities, in collaboration with The Urban Institute, has developed a ten part educational series of materials and tools to help local elected officials obtain and use information about the results and outcomes of government services in helping their citizens.

Citiespeak

Citiesspeak is the official blog of the National League of Cities.

• Muni Default and Bankruptcy-Chasing Continues
• Crying Wolf about Municipal Defaults (Part 1)
• Crying Wolf about Municipal Defaults (Part 2)
• Municipal Bankruptcy - A Story in Search of a Trend? 
• Cities return to "old normal" 
• Cities Can't Cut Their Way to Prosperity 
• There's No Crying in City Finance 

Nation's Cities Weekly Articles

A Unique Time in Municipal Finance: Not for Hunkering Down (January 17, 2011)
"Emerging Issues" is a monthly column by NLC staff member Bill Barnes in NLC's Nation's Cities Weekly newspaper. 
Fundamental dollars and cents challenges lead directly to fundamental governance challenges, including questions that may not be part of the normal budgetary discussions. Michael Pagano says cities should try to address these questions. That's how democratic societies re-create themselves.

The Fiscal Revolution in America's Cities (January 18, 2010)
Michael A. Pagano, dean of the College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois at Chicago, offers some context of how cities will fare as the economy starts to improve.   

For 25 years, NLC's City Fiscal Conditions survey and report have been the principal source of annual information on the fiscal conditions of America's cities. NLC conducts this research in partnership with the University of Illinois at Chicago's College of Urban Planning and Public Affairs (http://www.uic.edu/cuppa/) and Michael A. Pagano (http://www.uic.edu/cuppa/deanmessage.html), Dean of the College. 

The survey is a national mail survey of finance officers in U.S. cities conducted in the spring. Each year, NLC releases a research report on the results of the survey. The report is widely covered by national and local media, is utilized by cities across the country for comparison and context, and is the cornerstone of NLC's larger research program on public finance and cities.

City Fiscal Condtions in 2012
The nation’s cities continue to cut personnel, infrastructure investments and key services as the prolonged effects of the economic downturn take their toll on city finances according to the National League of Cities 27th annual City Fiscal Conditions report.

 City Fiscal Conditions in 2011
The nation's cities are cutting personnel and infrastructure projects as the economic downturn continues to take its toll on city finances according to the National League of Cities' (NLC) 26th annual City Fiscal Conditions report.

City Fiscal Conditions in 2010
List of Responding Ciites
The nation's city finance officers report that the fiscal condition of the nation's cities continues to weaken in 2010 as cities confront the effects of the economic downturn.  Local and regional economies characterized by struggling housing markets, slow consumer spending, and high levels of unemployment are driving declines in city revenues. In response, cities are cutting personnel, infrastructure investments and key services

City Fiscal Conditions in 2009
PowerPoint Presentation
Cities are in the early stages of registering the effects of the nation's economic downturn, according to the National League of Cities' annual report on fiscal conditions. The report, "City Fiscal Conditions in 2009," finds that the ability of cities to meet their financial needs will worsen through 2010 and beyond. 

City Fiscal Conditions in 2008
Confronted with declining economic conditions driven by downturns in housing, consumer spending, and jobs and income, city finance officers report that the fiscal condition of the nation's cities has weakened dramatically in 2008.

City Fiscal Conditions in 2007
City finance officers report that the fiscal condition of the nation's cities improved in the past year. However, as they prepare to close the books on 2007, finance officers are less optimistic, predicting a slowdown in revenues and increased spending pressures.

City Fiscal Conditions in 2006
A scan of city finances in 2005 and 2006 reveals that the fiscal condition of municipalities appears to have stabilized, but not fully recovered from the post-2001 recessionary period.

City Fiscal Conditions in 2005
After three straight years marked by fiscal recession from 2001-2004, the fiscal condition of municipalities appears to have turned the corner. In the National League of Cities' latest annual survey of city finance officers, more than three in five respondents (63%) said their cities were better able to meet financial needs during 2005 than in the previous year.

City Fiscal Conditions in 2004
Research Brief
While economists announced the end of the economic recession two years ago, a fiscal recession continues in America's cities. Ongoing economic struggles, combined with soaring health care and pension costs, marked declines in state aid to local government, and other factors continue to cause serious fiscal problems for municipalities across the country.

City Fiscal Conditions in 2003
Research Brief
Interim Report
The struggling economy--combined with soaring health care and pension costs, marked declines in state aid to local government, and other factors--is causing serious fiscal problems for America's cities.

City Fiscal Conditions in 2002
Research Brief
Amid the current economic downturn, the fall of the stock market, and federal and state budget crises, fiscal conditions in America's cities are also declining. 1 For the first time in a decade, the majority of city officials report that they are worse off financially than in the previous fiscal year.

City Fiscal Conditions in 2001
The percentage of cities that say they are better off financially is the lowest since 1994. 56% of cities stated that their cities were in a better financial situation this year than in 2000; 44% believed that their cities were in a less advantageous financial situation.