942: 172                                                                                  Professor Michael Licari

Public Budgeting                                                                       SAB 339

Spring 2006                                                                             x36048; michael.licari@uni.edu

                                                                                                http://www.uni.edu/~licari/

                                                                                                hrs M/W 1-2; by appointment

 

Course Description

 

The purpose of this course is to introduce the student to a range of topics on the politics of public budgeting.  The focus of the course is thus not necessarily applied budget construction (although budgeting techniques will be covered), but rather on the legal, political, and economic factors affecting budgeting in federal, state, and local governments in the United States.

 

Required Texts

 

The textbooks below have been ordered and are available at the university bookstore.  I do not have extra copies to loan out.  Note that older editions of the texts are significantly different and may not be substituted.

 

James Gosling.  Budgetary Politics in American Governments, 4th edition

 

John Mikesell.  Fiscal Administration, 6th edition

 

Course Requirements

 

Students are expected to complete the assigned readings before each class period and come prepared to contribute to class discussions.  Grades will be based on student performance on a series of writing assignments, a class presentation, and class participation with the following distribution:

 

Reports 1, 2, and 3:                  45% (15% each)

Report 4:                                  30%

Presentation of Report 4:          15%

Class Participation:                   10%

 

Grading

 

All graded material will receive a number grade based on the following scale:

 

100-94             A                     79-77               C+                   63-60               D-

93-90               A-                    76-74               C                     59-0                 F

89-87               B+                   73-70               C-

86-84               B                      69-67               D+

83-80               B-                    66-64               D

 

 

Class Policies

 

Incompletes are strongly discouraged and will only be given out in extreme circumstances.  Late work is absolutely not accepted, except in the case of a documented medical emergency.  In fairness to students who hand their work in on time, no other excuses will be accepted and no exceptions will be made.  All assignments are due at the start of class on the dates marked below in the Course Outline.  Students who do not have a documented medical excuse will receive a "zero" for a late assignment.  There is no extra credit.  Students must follow the rules found in the Catalog regarding Academic Regulations, particularly the section covering academic ethics policies.  Also read the Department's statement on plagiarism: http://fp.uni.edu/polisci/plagiarism.htm

 

Special Needs

 

Students with documented disabilities requiring special consideration or classroom arrangements should contact the Office of Disability Services in the Student Service Center, Room 213, and the professor during the first week of the semester.

 

Course Outline

 

Introduction and The Role of Government (Week 1; Jan 9/11/13)

 

            Mikesell, Introduction and Ch 1

 

The Fundamentals of the Budgetary Process (Week 2, Jan 18/20)

 

            Mikesell, Ch 2

            Gosling, Ch 1

 

Budgetary Decision Making (Week 3; Jan 23/25/27)

 

            Gosling, Ch 2

            Mikesell, Ch 5

 

Taxing and Spending (Week 4; Jan 30/Feb 1/3)

 

            Gosling, Ch 3 and 4

            Mikesell, Ch 7

 

National Budgeting (Week 5; Feb 6/8/10) Report 1 due Feb. 10

 

            Gosling Ch 5

            Mikesell, Ch 3 (part I)

 

 

 

State and Local Budgeting (Week 6; Feb 13/15/17)

 

            Gosling, Ch 6 and 7

            Mikesell, Ch 3 (part II), Ch 6, Ch 14

 

Budget Execution and Budgeting Techniques (Week 7; Feb 20/22/24)

 

            Gosling, Ch 8

            Mikesell, Ch 4, Ch 15, and 16

 

Income Tax (Week 8; Feb 27/Mar 1/3) Report 2 due March 3

 

            Mikesell, Ch 8

 

Taxes on Goods and Services (Week 9; Mar 6/8/10)

 

            Mikesell, Ch 9

 

Property Taxes (Week 10; Mar 20/22/24)

 

            Mikesell, Ch 10

 

User Fees and User Charges (Week 11; Mar 27/29/31)

 

            Mikesell, Ch 11 pg 430-444

 

Gov't Monopolies, Tax Collection, Forecasting (Week 12; Apr 3/5/7) Report 3 due Apr 7

 

            Mikesell, Ch 11 pg 445-458

Mikesell, Ch 12

 

Class Presentations (Weeks 13, 14, and 15; Apr 10/12/14, Apr 17/19 and Apr 24/26/28)

 

            NOTE: No class April 21.

 

Report 4 is due at the time of your class presentation.